New Delhi: The passing of Pope Francis on 21 April 2025 has set the stage for a historic papal election by a College of Cardinals reshaped by his transformative papacy.
The first modern pontiff to hail from anywhere but Europe, Pope Francis from Argentina, redefined Church leadership by diversifying its highest-ranking positions, tilting influence towards sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East-North Africa region.
A Pew Research Centre report says that the 135 cardinals—aged under 80 as of 21 April—voting in the conclave to choose a successor to Pope Francis reflect this global shift.
Under the leadership of Pope Francis, the College of Cardinals became markedly less European, with representatives from nearly every region. Seen as his legacy, this diversification ensures that a body representing the universal reach of the Church will now choose the next pope.
Of the 135 voting-age cardinals, the Asia-Pacific region accounts for 18 percent, up from 10 percent in 2013, whereas Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 12 percent, up from eight percent in 2013. The shares of cardinals from the Latin America-Caribbean and Middle East-North Africa also show an upward trend—18 from 17 percent and three from two percent, respectively. Europe still accounts for a majority of 40 percent of the Cardinals, but it is down from 51 percent in 2013. North America accounts for 10 percent, down from 12 percent.
Pope Francis also left behind a world where the Catholic Church remains a significant influence globally, including in the United States, where Catholics are the largest religious group, surpassing any single Protestant denomination. A Pew Research Centre fact sheet indicates the US has more Catholics than all countries but Brazil, Mexico, and the Philippines.
Approximately 20 percent of US adults—a figure which has remained stable since 2014—identify as Catholics. In 2007, 24 percent of US adults identified as Catholics, indicating a slight decline over the longer term.
Pope Francis & shift among Catholics
The Pew monitored public opinion on the Francis papacy closely from 2013 onwards. Surveys, including a February 2025 poll, reveal his impact on American Catholics and broader public perceptions.
Pope Francis has consistently been well-liked by the US Catholics. From 2013, at least 80% of the US Catholics viewed him favourably, according to 10 out of 15 surveys by the Pew Research Centre. At 90 percent, his highest approval rating was in February 2015. Before his hospitalisation, in a poll conducted from 3-9 February 2025, 78% of the US Catholics had a favourable view of him.
Most Latin Americans also held favourable views of Pope Francis till his death, but as in the US, the share of the population doing so had been down from a decade ago.
Another Pew report from 2024 notes that many Catholics in the US and Latin America, where Francis came from, want the Church to allow birth control and let women become priests. Among Catholics in Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, Chile, and the US, views on issues ranging from contraception and ordination of women to sexuality have been evolving under the papacy of Francis.
A majority of Catholics surveyed, including 83 percent in the US, will support the Church if it allows birth control. Across countries, many younger Catholics aged 18 to 39 will support the change, from 86 percent in Argentina to 63 percent in Brazil.
Moreover, 64 percent of younger Catholics in the US endorse the ordination of women, making them priests. Across the other countries, from 83 percent of the younger Catholics in Brazil to 47 percent in Mexico, are also in favour of the priesthood for women.
The upcoming papal election will not only choose a new leader for the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics but also test the enduring impact of the vision of Pope Francis for a more inclusive Church and may even lead to a pontiff from a non-European region again.
Suryansh Tripathi is an intern with ThePrint
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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