Pope Francis has been interred at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, the Vatican said Saturday.
The “rite of the Entombment of the Roman Pontiff” began at 1 p.m. local time (7 a.m. ET), in a ceremony presided over by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the “camerlengo” who had been tasked with making arrangements for Francis’ funeral, and who will soon help organize a conclave to choose Francis’ successor. The ceremony concluded at 1.30 p.m., the Vatican added.
Francis is the first pope in more than a century to be buried outside the walls of the Vatican. In his will, the late pontiff asked that his tomb be inscribed only with the word: “Franciscus.”
The Catholic Church's most senior officials, known as the College of Cardinals, will wait 15 days before beginning the vote on who the next Pope should be.
Currently, there are 252 Catholic cardinals, 138 of whom are eligible to vote for the new Pope. The new pope need 2/3 of the 138 eligible votes.
Cardinal Tagle has decades of pastoral experience – meaning he has been an active Church leader among the people as opposed to a diplomat for the Vatican or cloistered expert on Church law.
The Church is massively influential in the Philippines, where about 80% of the population is Catholic. The country currently has a record five members of the College of Cardinals – which could make for a significant lobbying faction if they all back Cardinal Tagle.
He is considered a moderate within the Catholic definition, and has been dubbed the "Asian Francis" because of a dedication to social issues and sympathy for migrants that he shared with the late pope. He has opposed abortion rights, calling them "a form of murder" – a position in line with the Church's broader stance that life begins at conception. He has also spoken against euthanasia.
But in 2015 when he was Archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Tagle called for the Church to reassess its "severe" stance towards gay people, divorcees and single mothers, saying past harshness had done lasting harm and left people feeling "branded", and that each individual deserved compassion and respect. The cardinal was considered a candidate to be pope as far back as the 2013 conclave in which Francis was elected. The 86 millions Filipino Roman Catholics will be ecstatic including myself if Cardinal Tagle becomes the New Pope.
Here are the other three most-talked names to be the new pope besides Cardinal Tagle
1. Pietro Parolin- Softly spoken Italian Cardinal Parolin was the Vatican's secretary of state under Pope Francis – making him the pope's chief adviser. The secretary of state also heads the Roman Curia, the Church's central administration. Having acted effectively as deputy pope, he could be considered a frontrunner. He is viewed by some as more likely to prioritise diplomacy and a global outlook than the purity of Catholic dogma. His critics consider that a problem, while his supporters see a strength.
2. Fridolin Besungo- It's very possible the next pope could be from Africa, where the Catholic Church continues to add millions of members. Cardinal Ambongo is a leading candidate, hailing from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
He has been Archbishop of Kinshasa for seven years, and was appointed cardinal by Pope Francis. He is a cultural conservative, opposing blessings for same-sex marriage, stating that "unions of persons of the same sex are considered contradictory to cultural norms and intrinsically evil".
3. Peter Appiah Turkson-If chosen by his peers, the influential Cardinal Turkson would likewise have the distinction of being the first African pope for 1,500 years. Like Cardinal Ambongo, he has claimed not to want the job. "I'm not sure whether anyone does aspire to become a pope," he told the BBC in 2013. Asked if Africa had a good case to provide the next pope based on the Church's growth on the continent, he said he felt the pope shouldn't be chosen based on statistics, because "those types of considerations tend to muddy the waters". He was the first Ghanaian to be made a cardinal, back in 2003 under Pope John Paul II. Like Cardinal Tagle, Cardinal Turkson was considered a potential pope a decade later, when Francis was chosen. In fact, bookmakers made him the favourite ahead of voting.
Personal Note: It is for sure that a woman will not be elected as the Next Pope in this coming Conclave. However unlike in the Movie, Cardinal Benitez the elected Pope was not a trans man but an intersex person, born with external male genitalia but female internal organs. People who are intersex have genitals, chromosomes or reproductive organs that don't fit into a male/female sex binary.
In the news: Following the passing of Pope Francis, viewership of ‘CONCLAVE’ increased by 283%, reaching nearly 7 million minutes watched. ‘THE TWO POPES’ also experienced a significant rise with viewership up by 417% since Sunday. I have watched both of the above excellent movies.
Here are other Movies Dealing with The Choosing of The Popes
1. The Shoes of the Fisherman ( 1968)
2. Habemus Papam ( 2013)
3. Pope Joan ( 1972)
4. The Pope Must Die ( 1991)
Other Movies and TV series about the Pope and Vatican but not directly dealing with the Pope election are: The Agony and Ecstasy, Angels and Demons and the Young Pope.
For Details visit: https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/pope-movies?srsltid=AfmBOoopbOli1wY_dsrL_z0deBtxxCb485V675YrMcJbOB9jPf7LMN8P
Rest in Peace, Pope Francis!
