More than 130 cardinals are gathering in the Vatican to elect a new pontiff after the death of Pope Francis in April. Of them, 23 come from Asia, and some of them are considered promising candidates themselves.
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Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle
Tagle, 67, is considered one of the top candidates for the papacy. He has helmed the Vatican’s missionary arm for the past five years. Appointing Tagle would likely be viewed as the Church continuing down the path of modernization and progressive reform set out by Francis. Tagle hails from the Philippines, where about 93 million people, or nearly 80% of the population, are Catholics.
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Cardinal Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi
Kikuchi, 66, is a staunch supporter of humanitarian causes and has emphasized climate change as one of the most serious issues facing people in Asia, especially those from poor backgrounds. He also shares Francis' views on migration as one of society's and the Church's biggest challenges.
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Cardinal Albert Malcolm Ranjith
Cardinal Ranjith, 77, a conservative who speaks 10 languages fluently, has spoken out against issues such as same-sex marriage, euthanasia, and abortion. He is highly experienced, and would represent a return to a more traditional, conservative papacy more in line with Francis' predecessor, Benedict XVI.
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Cardinal Joseph Coutts
Cardinal Joseph Coutts, 79, is the Roman Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of Karachi. Only around 3% of Pakistan's population are Christian and often live in danger as members of a persecuted minority. Christians are a declared target of radical Islamic terrorist groups. The Pakistani cleric stepped down from his post in 2021 because of old age and is not one of the most promising candidates.
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Cardinal Charles Maung Bo
Appointed in 2015 by Pope Francis, Maung Bo, 76, is Myanmar's first and only cardinal. He has generally avoided public pronouncements on liberal issues that were championed by Francis. Instead, he has focused on the deep issues afflicting his repressed and war-torn nation, which has been ruled for decades by military dictators — except for a brief period of civilian rule between 2015 and 2021.
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Lazarus You Heung-sik, from South Korea
Cardinal You Heung-sik (second from left), 73, is Archbishop of Daejeon in South Korea. As head of the peace committee of the Korean Bishops' Conference, he has visited North Korea several times in the name of peace and reconciliation. Around 31% of the population in South Korea adhere to Christianity. Until the 19th century, Christians in Korea were persecuted and killed because of their faith.
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Cardinal Dominique Joseph Mathieu
Cardinal Dominique Joseph Mathieu is the first cardinal ever on Iranian soil. Since December 2024, the 62-year-old Belgian has headed the old episcopal see of Ispahan, which was established in Iran in 1629 and is now called the Archdiocese of Tehran-Ispahan. Catholicism is permitted in Iran, but proselytizing and conversion from Islam are forbidden and can have serious consequences.
Pope Francis, who was born in Argentina, was the first non-European pope in more than 1,000 years. A progressive, he helped rehabilitate the Church's image amid rising secularism around the world and after a series of child abuse scandals.
It remains to be seen if Catholic leaders choose to return to a pope from Europe, Catholicism's traditional heartland. But membership and attendance in Europe have been steadily shrinking over the years.
Instead, the conclave could choose to give the Catholic Church its first ever leader from Asia, where Catholicism is growing.
Although they represent just 3% of Asia's population, Asians now make up about 11% of the global Catholic population.
