Religious orders deliver conclave candidates

In the run-up to a conclave, there’s a tendency to categorize cardinals into groups or factions that aren’t very cohesive in real life, for example by continent, by language or by type of ministry.

The same can be said of a sub-category of cardinal electors that is, nevertheless, quite interesting: This conclave will include 33 cardinals who are members of religious orders. That’s 25 percent of the voting members.

The number is unusually high when compared to the last two conclaves, and it no doubt reflects Pope Francis’ criteria when selecting cardinals. Francis was a Jesuit, and he was the first religious order pope in more than 150 years.

Cardinals who belong to religious orders don’t necessarily bring the same mindset to a conclave, but they do bring some common traits. Like Francis, they have taken vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. That can translate into a simple and less privileged lifestyle when they become bishops or archbishops.

They also bring networking, in the sense that they are known figures, at least within their own religious orders. In this conclave, there are five Salesians, four Jesuits, four Franciscans and others from 15 different orders.

It’s sometimes said that such cardinals are not ideal papal candidates because their spirituality and pastoral approach are tied to the particular charism of their religious order. But that argument is not really confirmed by the church’s history. Moreover, most of the current religious order cardinals have broad governing experience in large dioceses.

A surprising number of these cardinals appear on papabili lists.

They include two Spanish Salesians: Cardinal Cristobal Lopez Romero, 72, who has years of experience in Latin America and North Africa, and as such is seen as a “three continent” candidate; and Cardinal Angel Fernandez Artime, 64, onetime head of the Salesians who now leads the Vatican department that oversees the world’s religious orders.

A third Salesian sometimes seen as an Asian papal candidate is Burmese Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, 76, the archbishop of Yangon.

The Franciscan who has drawn attention from conclave-watchers is Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, 60, the Italian-born Latin patriarch of Jerusalem.

Jesuits mentioned as papabili include Canadian Cardinal Michael Czerny, 78, a migration expert who has headed the Vatican’s department for human development; and Luxembourg Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, 66, a close advisor to Pope Francis.

There are others: African Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, 65, is a member of the Capuchin order. Swedish Cardinal Anders Arborelius, 75, is a Carmelite. Canadian Cardinal Gerald Lacroix, 67, is a member of the Pius X Secular Institute.

Two U.S. cardinals sometimes named as papal candidates are also members of religious orders: Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, 73, is a Redemptorist, and Cardinal Robert Prevost, 69, who head the Vatican department for bishops, is an Augustinian. Cardinal Prevost spent 12 years as head of the Augustinian order, and before that served for many years as a bishop in Peru.

Although too old to vote in the conclave and probably too old to be elected, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, 80, the retired archbishop of Boston and a Capuchin friar, is still on some lists of candidates. He is said to have received some votes in the last conclave.