It is the daily newspaper Le Figaro that speculates in an article about the time after the current Pope Francis. The first two names are the Italian Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s “foreign minister”, and the Hungarian Archbishop Péter Erdö.
But Arborelius is the third person who “returns in the talks about possible successors”, writes Le Figaro, and states that the Swede “figures in both conservative and progressive circles”.
“Enjoys clear charisma”
The newspaper writes that Arborelius is “first and foremost a man of prayer but also a noted theologian, committed to ecumenism”. The fact that he comes from “a very secularized country where Catholicism is in the minority” is described as an advantage.
“This cardinal, who is not yet very well known, also enjoys a clear charisma, which is something indispensable for a pope,” writes the newspaper.
In a longer article, Le Figaro goes through the strong internal church criticism against Francis, and mentions several other possible papal candidates.
One of them, the Philippine Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, was earlier this year at the top of the bookmakers’ betting lists as a successor.
Arborelius is not on those lists.
He has explained to Dagen that he does not intend to comment on the articles.