After the death of Pope Francis, the Vatican officially entered the vacancy stage, an exceptional period that closes with the choice of a new pontiff through a traditional conclave.
Only cardinals up to 80 years have the right to vote: at present there are 136, which opens a career with names from different ideological sectors of the church.
Among the highest candidates, the figure of a person who considers him the same “line” as the previous leader of the church: Cardinal Pietro Passoli stands out.
The 70 -year -old Italian served as the State Secretary of Francisco throughout his pontificate. He is the most important diplomat of the Vatican with his experience in the Middle East and Asia, but also a great connoisseur of Latin America, who was a nunciation in Venezuela: this can be a diplomatic asset for the papacy at these moments of the crisis.
Who is Pietro Parolin, a key person in the diplomacy of the Vatican?
Pietro Parolin, born on January 17, 1955 in Skiavon, Italy, is an influential prelate of the Catholic Church. He grew up in a simple and deep Catholic family: his father had a household store and sold an agricultural mechanism, while his mother was an elementary school teacher.
The experience of the tragic loss of his father, who died in a car accident in 1965, when he was only eight months, marked his childhood.
He ordered a priest in 1980, he joined the Vatican’s diplomatic service in 1986, speaking in Nigeria and Mexico. In 2013, Pope Francis appointed him to the State Secretary of the Holy See, replacing Tarsisio Berton.
He was appointed cardinal in 2014 and Cardinal Bishop in 2018. Recognized as his role in diplomatic negotiations, he became the key in the legal recognition of the Catholic Church in Latin America and strengthen the Vatican international relations.
Especially an expert in matters related to the Middle East, and, in a more general plan, the geopolitical reality of the Asian continent worked, first of all, in order to weave and strengthen relations between the sacred throne and Vietnam, in addition to the agreement with China to appoint bishops.
The affection of most of the Roman curia, as well as many cardinals that he visited in his diplomatic missions, may be the key to the choice during the separation between the factions.