College of Cardinals – America’s stars, bars and stripes

While it is unlikely that an American will emerge from the conclave as the next pope, US cardinals will be influential spokesmen for different visions of the Church.

Ten cardinals from the United States will process into the Sistine Chapel on 7 May. While it is highly unlikely one of them will leave the conclave as Pope, some will be influential as spokesmen for different visions of what the Church needs at this moment.

Pope Francis appointed six of the 10 (three serving in residential sees, two in the Vatican Curia and one retired archbishop): Blase Cupich of Chicago; Robert McElroy of Washington DC; Joseph Tobin CSsR of Newark; Kevin Farrell, now serving as camerlengo and prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life; Wilton Gregory, Emeritus Archbishop of Washington; and Robert Prevost OSA, prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops.

The first three lead major archdioceses; all are committed to Francis’ reform agenda, with Cupich the most effective campaigner among them, McElroy the best spokesman and Tobin the best-connected from his 12 years as superior of the Redemptorists, based in Rome but travelling throughout the world. Farrell and Prevost are both considered among the most capable leaders in the curia: Farrell holds a number of delicate positions and Prevost, after serving as a missionary bishop in Peru, has brought new vigour to the dicastery charged with vetting candidates for the episcopacy. Wilton Gregory is a soft-spoken man whose resignation was accepted in January largely due to health concerns. He is expected to line up with the pro-Francis team, but will not be as large a player in the conclave as the others.

Raymond Burke, former prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, was Cupich’s seminary classmate but the two could scarcely be more different. He has been one of Pope Francis’ most persistent critics. Known for wearing a cappa magna and galero at traditionalist Masses, he cuts a tragicomic figure, a talented man who has strayed so far from the mainstream that he is virtually unemployable in any Vatican office. From his post as archpriest of St Paul Outside the Walls, a third classmate of Cupich and Burke, James Harvey, remains friendly with key conservative critics of Francis, such as wealthy layman Tim Busch who founded the Napa Institute. Timothy Dolan of New York has scarcely concealed his distaste for Pope Francis, saying in the days after his death he wants a new pope with “more clarity in teaching, more refinement of the Church’s tradition, more digging in the treasures of the past”. Daniel DiNardo’s resignation as Archbishop of Houston, Texas was accepted in January and he will likely be voting with the anti-Francis bloc.

Two non-voting US cardinals are likely to be influential in the pre-conclave discussions. Donald Wuerl, Emeritus Archbishop of Washington, has been well connected in Rome since serving as Cardinal John Wright’s priest-secretary in the 1960s and 1970s. Wright was convalescing during the October 1978 conclave that elected John Paul II, and young Fr Wuerl was permitted within the conclave to assist him. Boston’s former archbishop, Capuchin Seán O’Malley, is well known for his work confronting clergy sex abuse and, fluent in eight languages, has led retreats throughout the world. He served on Francis’ Council of Cardinals.

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