Cardinal You Heung-sik named among contenders for next pope

Mourners line up at Myeongdong Cathedral in central Seoul to pay their respects to Pope Francis on April 22, 2025. Yonhap

SEOUL, April 23 (AJP) - Cardinal Lazarus You Heung-sik, the prefect of the Vatican's Dicastery for the Clergy, has been named one of the top candidates to become the next pope after the death of Pope Francis earlier this week.

Italy's largest daily Corriere della Sera on Tuesday listed him 11th among its "12 likely successors to Pope Francis." He was one of two Asians, along with Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines, among a dozen contenders that included three Italians and nine non-Italians.

The College of Cardinals Report, a website run by Catholic experts, also included You the previous day among 41 cardinals to watch in the upcoming papal election.

The 72-year-old is eligible to vote and also be elected in the secret ballots for the election of a pope, known as the conclave, becoming the only South Korean among around 120 cardinals under 80 years old to participate in this centuries-old Vatican tradition, since the late Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan did so in 1978.

Cardinals have life tenure, but their voting rights in the papal conclave that elects a new pope cease when they turn 80, effectively disqualifying the 81-year-old Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung.

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Born in Nosan, South Chungcheong Province in 1951, You received a doctoral degree in divinity from the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. He was ordained a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2022, becoming South Korea's fourth cardinal, following Kim, Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk, and Yeom.

Meanwhile, the funeral service for Pope Francis is scheduled to take place on Saturday at St. Peter's Basilica, with global leaders including U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron expected to attend.

From South Korea, Yeom and Bishop Mathias Lee Yong-hoon are set to travel to the Vatican to pay their respects.

A memorial altar has also been set up at Myeongdong Cathedral in central Seoul, drawing crowds of mourners.

Im Yoon-seo 수습기자 lyseo0330@ajupress.com

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