“Whoever follows Francis must take up the legacy of Vatican II and of Pope Francis and engage the world without fear because we have the Gospel,” Cardinal Reina said in an interview the Gerard O’Connell.

“I become agitated when they say it’s time for an American, it’s time for an African, it’s time for a South Islander. I think that is so stupid. It’s time for the successor of Peter for 2025. The priority is evangelization.”

“In a time when the globalized economic and political order is crumbling—especially exposed during the Trump era—the church may well be one of the last stubborn institutions that still holds a truly global character.”

In this interview with Gerard O’Connell, Cardinal Müller speaks about his personal relationship with the pope, his criticisms of some of Francis’ statements and what he’s looking for in the next pope.

“I wish I did not have to vote because I wish that Francis were still alive. But it is a fact that he has left us,” Cardinal Stephen Chow told Gerard O’Connell in an exclusive interview.

In a pre-conclave meeting, an Italian cardinal, and backer of Cardinal Parolin as next pope, attacked Pope Francis for opening positions of responsibility in the church to men and women not in holy orders.

An exclusive interview with Archbishop Costelloe about the legacy of Pope Francis and what he hopes for from the conclave

The conclave to elect the next pope will open on May 7, Vatican officials announced today. The cardinals meeting in plenary assembly (called general congregations) in the Vatican decided the date this morning, April 28.

Francis has always been known as “the pope of surprises.”

Pope Francis’ face was forever hidden from the world when his coffin was closed at 8 o’clock on Friday evening, April 25, just as the sun was setting over Rome.