If the next pope may be spinning progress

Since the death of Pope Francis, guesses have been circulating who will succeed him at the head of the Holy See. One of the main candidates is the 72-year-old Hungarian Cardinal Péter erdő. He is considered a cultural man respected for his wide education, far beyond his specialization in the field of church law.

Due to his expertise, he became a respected advisor to the Vatican bodies, his sermons and interviews are full of historical and literary references. However, it is also a remote personality who lacks a common touch that marked the Franciscan Pope – ascetic appearance rarely photographed with a smile, they wrote for Guardian. Erdő is the Archbishop of the Esztergo-Budos Archdiocese and Cardinal since 2003. He has created an international reputation by running the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences, the representative body of the European Catholic Bishops.

He later gained a great reputation outside Europe, especially among traditional thinking African and American bishops. This upgrades his role as a rapporteur for the global synod about the family (2014-2015), convened by Pope Francis to consider the pastoral doctrine of the Church in the context of changing social conditions. During the Synod, Erdő resisted the efforts for a more inclusive approach to the LGBT+ community and separate Catholics, they wrote inGuardian. In his central speech, he said to the delegates: « It should be avoided by the current tendency that things that are just desires are often selfish are giving up as true and relevant rights. »

Although not so closely related to the Hungarian utterly prime minister Victor Orbán Like some other bishops, Erdő has been maintaining a close partnership with the ruling party Fidesz since 2010. The generous subsidies for the Church were part of Fidesz’s policy. In other areas, Erdő is generally considered caution and conservative. When Pope Francis, at the peak of the European Migrant Crisis, called on parishes and other Catholic institutions to accept migrants and refugees, Erdő rejected this idea and noted that the indiscriminal acceptance of refugees could make the Church for a fellow trafficking in trafficking.

According to many connoisseurs, the Hungarian Cardinal is considered an ideal candidate for those who want to direct the Church in a more conventional direction, but without the direct rejection of the legacy of Pope Francis. Erdő is cautious, diplomatic and does not descend into public conflicts. He was even called « friendly traditionalist » in an Italian newspaper.