Cardinal of Rabat Rejects Papal Candidacy Ahead of Conclave

Mgr Cristóbal López Romero is not interested in the papacy. "If I’m elected, I’ll flee to Sicily," he told the Italian daily Il Messaggero. "I have absolutely no ambition. I could never imagine myself in that role," assured the 72-year-old cardinal whose ideas are close to those of the late Pope Francis. For the Spanish Catholic prelate, "wanting to govern the Church as pontiff is a sign of a problem in the head, psychological, or of unease in the heart." He considers it a heavy responsibility. "Wanting to be Pope demonstrates that you don’t understand what it entails or that you are driven by a thirst for power," added the Archbishop of Rabat.

This statement comes at a time when the greatest discretion should usually reign in public positions on the name of the future Pope.

The name of Pope Francis’s successor will be known at the end of the conclave that starts on Wednesday. 133 cardinal-electors will lock themselves in the Sistine Chapel and proceed to choose the new Pope. He will need to gather a two-thirds majority.

On Saturday, "the wish was expressed for a prophetic next Pope" and "that the Church does not close itself in the cenacle" but that it "brings light to the world that desperately needs hope," explained Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press service, at the end of a conclave of cardinals.