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There was emotion across the United States following the death of Pope Francis, with many mourners contrasting the Argentine pontiff’s gentle touch with the harshness of the current US administration.At New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral, hundreds of Catholics gathered in mourning, including worshipper Peter who said “we lost a very good man” whose values were entirely at odds with those of President Donald Trump. Francis “cared about (people) most of us forget about — the poor, the downtrodden, the forgotten, and the healing power of forgiveness,” said the 70-year-old, who did not provide his last name, as Catholics and tourists flocked into the imposing Gothic Cathedral opened in 1879.”We have a president and an administration that’s turning the country in a direction that is in complete contradiction of the values that this pope espoused.”A bust of Francis stood by a side entrance, while a portrait of the late pontiff was on display nearby.Daphne, Peter’s spouse, said Francis’s “focus was on the poor and the needy — but also with immigrants.””Our country right now is forgetting that it was built on immigrants, and that is very hurtful to us as a population,” she said.New Yorker Cathy Colecchi wept openly, describing Francis as “the pope for everyone,” and praising his “inclusivity.””I really haven’t attended a mass for a very, very long time. I surprisingly find myself today, very, very sad,” she said.- ‘A shock’ -Reflecting the staunchly Democratic leaning of New York City, local resident Mark Carey said “it was very strange that (US Vice President JD) Vance spoke to him and saw him yesterday, considering their conflict of issues.”Vance was one of the last visitors to the Vatican to see Francis alive, receiving a short audience with the pope before he delivered his Easter greetings to a crowd of more than 35,000 Sunday.”Hopefully he was able to enlighten Vance,” said Carey.In the nation’s capital, well-wishers gathered outside the National Cathedral of Washington to mark the passing of Francis.”He was much more Christian than… for example, the people who are in office now who claim to be Christian, especially our president, whose name I will not say,” said 71-year-old retiree Mark Smerkanich. Some of those moved to gather following the death expressed surprise at the suddenness of the news.”(A) total surprise, right? And some shock and also sorrow. We just saw Pope Francis on our TV screens yesterday,” said Father Aquinas Guilbeau, a university chaplain at The Catholic University of America.”News of his passing so soon after seeing him in public, it is a bit of a surprise and a shock,” he added, wearing a plain cassock in front of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.Outside Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Miami, Pamela Garcia, who works for a printing company, said that she had “been praying for him to heal” as his health worsened.”But the Lord called him home and the greatest thing is that he waited until Resurrection (Sunday),” she said.Hilda Palermo, a freelancer, said that she wanted the next pope to be “very traditional.” “I think we need people with values, to maintain the family — and I hope he’ll be a person close to God.”burs-gw/des

It’s not a scene out of the future, but a reality on the hard courts of today.Using artificial intelligence, a top basketball team found the right defensive strategy that made the difference to win the NBA championship.Data specialist Rajiv Maheswaran declines to name the outfit that leveraged AI analysis to victory, saying in a corporate video only that it happened several years ago.That was “the moment that sealed it,” added the co-founder of tech startup Second Spectrum, which provides the league with swathes of player positioning data gathered during crucial games.Analytics have transformed the NBA over the past decade, with AI and other breakthroughs still ramping up.Embryonic in the early 2000s, the revolution truly took hold with motion-capture cameras installed in every venue in 2013.Ten years later, new tech upgraded renderings of the court from 2D to 3D, unlocking even more precious data.Cameras track 29 points for each player “so you know not just where they are, but you know where their elbow is, and you know where their knee is,” said Ben Alamar, a sports analytics writer and consultant.”You’re actually able to see, yes, that was a high quality (defensive) closeout,” said Tom Ryan, head of Basketball Research and Development at the NBA, describing an often-used manouvre. “It’s adding more context to that metric.””Now all 30 teams are doing significant analysis with varying levels of success,” said Alamar.Houston, Golden State and Oklahoma City were often cited among early adopters at the turn of the 2010s.This season, Oklahoma City is on top of regular season standings, “and they play different,” said ESPN Analytics Group founder Dean Oliver. “They force turnovers, and they have very few turnovers themselves. So there are definitely advantages to be gained.””It’s not going to turn a 25-win team into a 70-win team during the season, but it can turn a 50-win team into a 55, 56-win team,” according to Alamar.AI allows for “strategic insights” like “understanding matchups, finding the situations where players perform well, what combinations of players,” he added.- ‘Optimizing shots’ -None of the dozen teams contacted by AFP agreed to discuss their work on analytics.”Teams are (understandably) secretive,” Oliver confirmed.Even before 3D, motion capture data was already shifting the game, taking basketball from a more controlled pace to something looser and faster, he added.The data showed that faster play secures more open looks and a higher percentage of shots — a development that some criticize.On average, three-point shot attempts have doubled over the last 15 years.”As a league now, we look deep into analytics,” Milwaukee point guard Damian Lillard noted at February’s All-Star Game. While it perhaps “takes away the originality of the game… you’ve got to get in line with what’s working to win.”The league is taking the issue seriously enough that Commissioner Adam Silver recently mentioned that “some adjustments” could be made to address it.Even now, AI has “plenty of upside” yet to emerge, said Oliver. “The data is massive, but converting that into information, into knowledge that can be conveyed to players, that they can absorb, all of those steps are yet to be done.”- ‘Get calls right’ -The league itself is pursuing several analytics and AI projects, including for real-time refereeing.”The ROI (return on investment) is very clear,” said Ryan. “It’s about getting more calls right, faster and in a transparent way to our fans.””We would love a world where if a ball goes out of bounds and you’re not sure who it went off of, rather than going to replay you look at high frame rate video in real time with 99.9 percent accuracy… That’s really our North Star.”Spatial data can also extend the fan experience, shown off during the recent “Dunk the Halls” Christmas game between San Antonio and New York. An alternative telecast rendered the game in video game-style real-time display, with avatars replacing live action images.”We want to experiment with all different types of immersive media,” says Ryan. “We just want to be able to sell our game and present it in compelling ways.”

President Donald Trump stood behind his controversial Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth Monday despite a new scandal over his reported use of messaging app Signal to discuss US strikes on Yemen with his wife and others.”He’s doing a great job,” Trump said, dismissing the reports as “just fake news.”US media reported that Hegseth used Signal to talk about the air strikes against Yemen’s Huthi rebels with people not usually involved in such discussions, just weeks after it emerged that he also shared details about the strikes in another Signal chat to which a journalist had been inadvertently added.The scandals and reports of turmoil inside the Pentagon are a blow to the newly minted defense secretary, a former Fox News co-host nominated by Trump despite having no high-level military experience and no background in running large organizations.However, Hegseth was defiant, blaming the media.”This is what the media does. They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations,” Hegseth said at the White House, adding: “Not going to work with me.”Multiple Democratic lawmakers have said it is time for Hegseth to go.”He’s a walking national security disaster and needs to resign or be fired,” said Representative Jim McGovern.Senators Mark Warner, Andy Kim and Elissa Slotkin all called for Hegseth to quit, with the latter saying: “If he cared about the institution he’s leading, he should man up, acknowledge he’s a distraction to the military’s mission, and resign.”Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin also weighed in, calling the Pentagon chief a “disgrace” and saying it is “well past time for Hegseth to resign — or for Donald Trump to fire him.”- ‘Total chaos’ -After NPR radio reported that the White House had begun looking for a new defense chief, Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt posted on X that this was “total FAKE NEWS based on one anonymous source who clearly has no idea what they are talking about.”Last month, The Atlantic magazine revealed that its editor-in-chief was mistakenly included in a Signal chat in which officials including Hegseth and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz discussed the March 15 Yemen strikes.The revelation sparked an uproar, with Trump’s administration forced on the defensive over the leak. A Pentagon inspector general’s probe into Hegseth’s use of Signal is ongoing.The New York Times and CNN then reported Sunday that Hegseth had shared information on the same strikes in a second Signal group chat.The details shared included the flight schedules for warplanes targeting the Huthis, the Times reported.The chat included his wife Jennifer, who is a journalist and former Fox News producer, as well as his brother Phil and lawyer Tim Parlatore, both of whom serve in roles at the Pentagon, the newspaper and the channel said, citing anonymous sources.The reported release of military information in the chat follows upheaval at the top of the Pentagon, with three senior officials removed last week amid an investigation into alleged leaks.Former senior advisors Darin Selnick, Dan Caldwell and Colin Carroll hit back on Sunday, saying Pentagon officials had “slandered our character with baseless attacks.””We still have not been told what exactly we were investigated for, if there is still an active investigation, or if there was even a real investigation of ‘leaks’ to begin with,” they said in a joint statement posted on social media.Hegseth’s former Pentagon press secretary John Ullyot also took aim at him in a scathing opinion piece on Sunday that described “a month of total chaos at the Pentagon.””President Donald Trump has a strong record of holding his top officials to account. Given that, it’s hard to see Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth remaining in his role for much longer,” wrote Ullyot.

The racist gunman who killed 23 people at a crowded supermarket near the Mexico border was sentenced to life in prison without parole Monday after admitting capital murder in one of the deadliest shootings in US history.Patrick Crusius, who struck at a Walmart in the majority-Hispanic Texas city of El Paso in 2019, pleaded guilty at a state court as part of a deal that enabled him to avoid the death penalty.The 26-year-old white supremacist was already serving 90 consecutive life terms over hate crimes convictions handed down last year in federal court. Clad in a bulletproof vest, Crusius stared straight ahead as the El Paso County District Attorney James Montoya named his victims.”You came to inflict terror, to take innocent lives, and to shatter a community that had done nothing but stand for kindness, unity and love,” District Judge Sam Medrano told him.”You slaughtered fathers, mothers, sons and daughters.”Crusius drove 660 miles (1,060 kilometers) from Allen, Texas, near Dallas to the Walmart Supercenter in El Paso with an AK-47-style assault rifle and 1,000 rounds of ammunition.He opened fire on people in the supermarket parking lot, killing 23 and wounding 22.He had uploaded a document to the internet entitled “The Inconvenient Truth” in which he said the attack was “a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.” He said he was “defending my country from cultural and ethnic replacement,” referring to a far right conspiracy theory that other ethnic groups are “replacing” white Americans.When police showed up Crusius got out of his car and identified himself as the shooter. While in custody he told police he wanted to kill “Mexicans.”The massacre — which took place during Donald Trump’s first term — ignited a debate on how president’s repeated criticism of immigrants influenced the behavior of people who supported him.At his July 2024 federal sentencing, then-assistant attorney general Kristen Clarke described the shooting as “one of the most horrific acts of white nationalist-driven violence in modern times.”It came two years after a gunman killed 58 people at an outdoor concert in Las Vegas and three years after a man murdered 49 at an LGBTQ nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday that her government had asked television stations to pull an advertisement by US President Donald Trump’s administration warning against undocumented migration because it could incite violence.She said Mexico’s government had written to private TV channels urging them to stop showing the message, which has been aired during prime-time programs such as major league football.Reading the letter at her morning news conference, Sheinbaum said that the ad “contains a discriminatory message that violates human dignity” and could encourage “violence against people on the move.”The ad is part of a multimillion-dollar international campaign announced by Trump’s Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in February in radio, broadcast and digital formats in multiple countries.”If you are considering entering America illegally, don’t even think about it,” Noem warns in the message, which in Mexico has Spanish subtitles.If a migrant commits a crime, “we will hunt you down” because “criminals are not welcome,” she adds.Trump has ramped up pressure on Mexico to tackle undocumented migration and drug trafficking, leading Sheinbaum to deploy extra troops along the border as part of efforts to avoid his sweeping tariffs.Sheinbaum said that she would submit a proposal to Congress to ban foreign governments from paying for advertising on Mexican television networks.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fought back Monday — with White House support — against another scandal over his reported use of Signal to discuss airstrikes on Yemen, this time with his wife, brother and lawyer.The Pentagon chief allegedly included details on the strikes in the private chat — the second time he has been accused of sharing sensitive military information on the commercial messaging app with unauthorized people.”This is what the media does. They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations,” Hegseth said at the White House, adding: “Not going to work with me.”Hegseth is facing increasing criticism, with three ex-staffers penning a statement decrying their dismissals and his own former Pentagon press secretary all but calling for him to be removed.Multiple Democratic lawmakers have said it is time for Hegseth — a former Fox News co-host and Army National Guard veteran with no previous experience in government or politics — to go.”Trump’s Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has now leaked classified military plans TWICE — this time through a unsecured Signal chat on a personal device to friends and family. He’s a walking national security disaster and needs to resign or be fired,” said Representative Jim McGovern.Senators Mark Warner, Andy Kim and Elissa Slotkin all called for Hegseth to quit, with the latter saying: “Our military and our country deserve serious leaders. If he cared about the institution he’s leading, he should man up, acknowledge he’s a distraction to the military’s mission, and resign.”But President Donald Trump has stood by him so far, saying Monday that “he’s doing a great job” and dismissing the reports as “just fake news.”- ‘Total chaos’ -Last month, The Atlantic magazine revealed that its editor-in-chief was inadvertently included in a Signal chat in which officials including Hegseth and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz discussed the March 15 Yemen strikes.The revelation sparked an uproar, with Trump’s administration forced on the defensive over the leak. A Pentagon inspector general’s probe into Hegseth’s use of Signal is ongoing.The New York Times and CNN then reported Sunday that Hegseth had shared information in a second Signal group chat on the same strikes.The information shared included the flight schedules for warplanes targeting Yemen’s Huthi rebels, the Times reported.The chat included his wife Jennifer, who is a journalist and former Fox News producer, as well as his brother Phil and lawyer Tim Parlatore, both of whom serve in roles at the Pentagon, the newspaper and the channel said, citing anonymous sources.The reported release of military information in the chat follows other turmoil at the top of the Pentagon, with three senior officials removed last week amid an investigation into alleged leaks.Former senior advisors Darin Selnick, Dan Caldwell and Colin Carroll hit back on Sunday, saying Pentagon officials had “slandered our character with baseless attacks.””We still have not been told what exactly we were investigated for, if there is still an active investigation, or if there was even a real investigation of ‘leaks’ to begin with,” they said in a joint statement posted on social media.Hegseth’s former Pentagon press secretary John Ullyot also took aim at him in a scathing opinion piece on Sunday that described “a month of total chaos at the Pentagon.””President Donald Trump has a strong record of holding his top officials to account. Given that, it’s hard to see Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth remaining in his role for much longer,” wrote Ullyot.

President Donald Trump and his White House predecessor Joe Biden led the way in paying respects from the United States to Pope Francis, who died Monday at 88.Trump, who has had a sometimes thorny relationship with the Vatican, ordered US flags to be flown at half-staff at the White House, and at federal property across the world.”He was a good man, he worked hard and loved the world,” Trump said at a White House event marking Easter. He had earlier posted on social media: “Rest in Peace Pope Francis! May God Bless him and all who loved him!”Biden, who was only the second Roman Catholic to serve as US president, hailed the late pope as “unlike any who came before him.””Pope Francis will be remembered as one of the most consequential leaders of our time and I am better for having known him,” Biden wrote on X alongside a picture of him and the Pope. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, also a Catholic, said he was “saddened” and added “we unite in prayer with Catholics worldwide for the repose of the pontiff’s soul and for this period of transition for the Catholic Church.”There were also statements from top congressional leaders, with senior Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer citing the late pope’s “compassion and love for the less fortunate.””His papacy will be remembered as a beacon of light and hope against the darkness. My prayers are with the billions of people today who are mourning his loss.”The top Democrat in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, said the pope had “humbly” served the poor and recalled a 2015 address by Pope Francis to a joint session of Congress as a “triumphant, bipartisan” event.

Pope Francis died on Monday aged 88, prompting mourning across the Christian world for the energetic reformer who inspired devotion from Catholics but riled traditionalists during a 12-year papacy. Mourners gathered, many in tears, in St Peter’s Square, where just a day earlier the the frail-looking pontiff had greeted worshippers on Easter Sunday, having recently left hospital following a 38-day battle with double pneumonia.World leaders paid tribute to Francis’ moral and spiritual leadership and countries began preparations to mark his death, which will now set off a succession scramble among Cardinals to see who next will lead the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.”Dearest brothers and sisters, it is with deep sorrow that I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis,” said Cardinal Kevin Farrell in a Vatican statement.”This morning at 7:35 am (0535 GMT) the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the home of the Father.”His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and His church,” said the statement, released shortly before 10:00 am.- St Peter’s Square prayers -His death sets in motion centuries-old traditions that will culminate in the gathering of a conclave of cardinals to choose a successor.In the next four to six days the Vatican’s cardinals will decide on the pope’s funeral date, which must take place between four and six days after his death.In the meantime, the day-to-day running of the tiny Vatican City state will be handled by the Camerlengo, a senior cardinal, who is currently Dublin-born Cardinal Farrell.Francis died in his apartment at the Saint Martha residence where he had lived since his election in March, 2013, the Vatican said.The cause of his death would “probably” be shared after Francis’s body is laid in its coffin in the Saint Martha chapel at 8:00 pm (1800 GMT) on Monday, the Vatican said.Just before that, a public Rosary prayer was to be held in St Peter’s Square, the Vatican said, adding that Francis’s body would likely be transferred to St Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday to lie in state.- ‘Spiritual father’ -At the Vatican on Monday, a hush seemed to descend on the normally boisterous Saint Peter’s Square as the death knell rang out.”He lived this Easter and then he went,” Cesarina Cireddu from Sardinia said with tears in her eyes. “He’s actually returned to the Lord — and godspeed.”Tour groups continued to walk through the sprawling plaza as quiet groups of people leaned against a barricade to pray.Venezuelan Riccardo Vielma, 31, who is studying to be a priest, said that “we have lost our spiritual father”.”He was everyone’s pope,” said Maria Chiorazzo, 59, who paid a visit to the square with her husband. “He was the only man of peace, in contrast to our rulers at this time.” Francis, born in Argentina as Jorge Bergoglio, was the first Jesuit to lead the Catholic world and the first from the Americas.He took over after Benedict XVI became the first pontiff since the Middle Ages to step down — and cut a sharply different figure from the German theologian.A football-loving former archbishop of Buenos Aires who was often happiest among his flock, Francis sought to forge a more open and compassionate Church.- Served with ‘devotion’ -World leaders praised him for having strongly defended social justice and the rights of migrants.King Charles, who met Francis during a state visit earlier this month, said the pope had “served with such devotion”.Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said “a great man has left us” in a statement. Argentina’s President Javier Milei pointed to his compatriot’s “goodness and wisdom” despite their “differences”.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Francis had “inspired millions… with his humility and love so pure for the less fortunate”.US President Donald Trump wrote “Rest in Peace” on his Truth Social platform, and his predecessor Joe Biden, a Catholic, hailed “one of the most consequential leaders of our time” on X.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was grieving and Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the pope’s promotion of dialogue between the Orthodox and Catholic churches.Italy’s Serie A football league called off all the day’s matches and the country’s Olympic committee called for all sporting events due to take place there on Monday to be postponed.Champions League holders Real Madrid held a minute’s silence during training on Monday.Spain declared three days of mourning with Argentina announcing a full week.The bells at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris rang out 88 times and the city said the lights would be turned off at the Eiffel Tower on Monday evening.- Reforming pope -Francis’s pontificate was also marked by pushing through governance reforms and tackling the scourge of clerical sex abuse of children.But critics accused him of creating doctrinal confusion and failing to defend traditional Catholic beliefs on key issues such as abortion and divorce. Francis’s desire to chart a different path was evident right to the end, with his decision to be buried not in St Peter’s Basilica but in Rome’s Santa Maria Maggiore basilica.He will become the first pope in more than 100 years to be laid to rest outside the Vatican.Francis also rejected the tradition of popes having three coffins, choosing instead to be buried in just one.- Health issues -Francis, who had part of his lung removed as a young man, had maintained a busy schedule before his latest hospital admission.Even after he was released from hospital and ordered to rest for two months, Francis, known for being stubborn, did not wait long before making public appearances, meeting King Charles and visiting a prison.But he was barely able to speak, and delegated the traditional Easter Sunday “Urbi et Orbi” (“To the City and the World”) benediction to an associate, although he later toured Saint Peter’s Square in his open-top popemobile, greeting worshippers.Despite a growing number of health problems, he never took a day off and made frequent trips abroad, including a four-nation Asia-Pacific tour only last September.Huge crowds gathered wherever he went, a testament to his popularity and human touch.- ‘Who am I to judge?’ -When Francis took over, the Catholic Church was mired in infighting and beset by a global scandal over clerical sex abuse of children and decades of cover-ups.He promised an end to impunity and changed Vatican law to help tackle abuse, though victims said he could have gone further.He also initiated a major shake-up of the Vatican’s powerful governing body that included improving financial responsibility and allowing lay Catholics to lead Vatican offices.Throughout his papacy, Francis championed the poor and vulnerable and emphasised love over doctrine.”If someone is gay and is searching for the Lord and has good will, then who am I to judge him?” he said at the start of his papacy.However, his detractors accused him of failing to uphold established Church doctrine.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday dismissed new allegations that he shared information about military strikes in Yemen via a Signal chat group that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer.The Pentagon chief reportedly included details on the strikes in the private chat — the second time he has been accused of sharing sensitive military information on the commercial messaging app with unauthorized people.”This is what the media does. They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations,” Hegseth said at the White House.”Not going to work with me,” he said, adding: “Anonymous smears from disgruntled former employees on old news doesn’t matter.”Hegseth is facing increasing criticism, with three former staffers penning a statement decrying their dismissals and his own former Pentagon press secretary all but calling on Sunday for him to be fired.But the White House on Monday backed him, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt saying that “the president absolutely has confidence in Secretary Hegseth. I spoke to him about it this morning, and he stands behind him.”Last month, The Atlantic magazine revealed that its editor-in-chief was inadvertently included in a Signal chat in which officials including Hegseth and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz discussed the Yemen strikes, which took place on March 15.The revelation sparked an uproar, with President Donald Trump’s administration forced on the defensive over the leak. A Pentagon inspector general’s probe into Hegseth’s use of Signal is ongoing.The New York Times then reported Sunday that Hegseth had shared information in a second Signal group chat on the same March 15 strikes.The chat included his wife Jennifer, who is a journalist and former Fox News producer, as well as his brother Phil and lawyer Tim Parlatore, both of whom serve in roles at the Pentagon, the newspaper said, citing anonymous sources.Responding to the report, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell accused the Times of being “Trump-hating media.””There was no classified information in any Signal chat, no matter how many ways they try to write the story,” he said, without providing further specifics.

The April 21 death of Pope Francis triggered a period of mourning in the Catholic Church, but also kick-started the race for his successor.Whether diplomats, theologians, mediators or Vatican insiders, here are 15 cardinals who are among the potential favourites to become the next pope, known as the “papabili”, divided by region.This list however is by no means exhaustive and Francis’s successor could well be someone else.EUROPEPietro Parolin (Italy), 70, Vatican Secretary of StateThe Vatican’s chief diplomat, Parolin has been the number two at the Vatican during nearly all of Francis’s papacy. He is known to many world leaders, having travelled the globe, but also to many inside the Roman Curia, the government of the Holy See. A member of Francis’s Council of Cardinals, an advisory body, Parolin played a key role in the historic 2018 deal between the Holy See and China on the appointment of bishops.Pierbattista Pizzaballa (Italy), 60, Latin Patriarch of JerusalemPizzaballa is the top Catholic in the Middle East with an archdiocese encompassing Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan and Cyprus.He was made a cardinal in September 2023, shortly before the war broke out between Israel and Hamas.The Franciscan has appealed for peace from both sides, and at Christmas in 2024 led mass both in Gaza and in Jerusalem.Matteo Maria Zuppi (Italy), 69, Archbishop of BolognaZuppi, a member of the Roman community of Sant’Egidio, has for more than three decades acted as a discreet diplomat for the Vatican including serving as Pope Francis’s special peace envoy for Ukraine.Known for riding his bicycle around Bologna, Zuppi is a popular figure for his decades of work on behalf of the needy. He also advocates for welcoming migrants and gay Catholics into the Church.He has been president of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI) since 2022. Claudio Gugerotti (Italy), 69 A diplomat and polyglot from the Italian city of Verona, Gugerotti is an expert on the Slavic world. He served as nuncio — or ambassador of the Holy See — in several countries including Britain, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine.Consulted by Pope Francis on the war between Ukraine and Russia, Gugerotti was named Prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches in 2022.Jean-Marc Aveline (France), Archbishop of Marseille, 66Born in Algeria, Aveline has spent most of his life in Marseille and is an emblematic figure of the southern French port city. Considered a close friend of Pope Francis, he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Marseille in 2013 and elevated to cardinal in 2022.The smiling, affable Aveline has advocated for dialogue between religions and cultures, and the defence of migrants — both central tenets of Pope Francis’s papacy. Anders Arborelius (Sweden), 75, Bishop of StockholmAppointed in 2017 as Sweden’s first cardinal, Arborelius is a convert to Catholicism in the overwhelmingly Protestant Scandinavian country, home to one of the world’s most secularised societies.He is the first Swedish Catholic bishop since the Protestant Reformation and a staunch defender of Church doctrine, notably opposed to allowing women to be deacons or blessing same-sex couples.Like Pope Francis, Arborelius advocates welcoming migrants to Europe, including Christians, Catholics and potential converts.Mario Grech (Malta), 68, Bishop emeritus of GozoGrech is the secretary general of the Synod of Bishops, a body that gathers information from local churches on crucial issues for the Church — whether the place of women or remarried divorced people — and passes it along to the pope. He has had to perform a delicate balancing act, following Pope Francis’s lead on creating an open, attentive Church while acknowledging the concerns of conservatives.He has acknowledged the “fraternal dialogue” between Catholics of all levels while assuring traditionalists that the Church is “not a democracy, the Church is hierarchical”. Peter Erdo, 72, Metropolitan Archbishop of Esztergom-BudapestAn intellectual and respected expert in canon law, Erdo speaks seven languages, has published more than 25 books, and is recognised for his openness to other religions. But his ties with the government of nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban — whose hardline anti-migrant views clash with those of Pope Francis — have been under scrutiny in the past.Known for his enthusiasm for evangelism, the cardinal who grew up under Communism is a conservative on such issues as gay marriage and divorcees who remarry. Jean-Claude Hollerich, 67, Archbishop of LuxembourgA Jesuit like Pope Francis, Hollerich spent over 20 years in Japan, and is a specialist in European-Asian cultural relations as well as German literature.Firm on dogma, the theologian is still open to the need for the Church to adapt to societal changes, much like the Argentine pope he was close to and for whom he served as an adviser on the Council of Cardinals.Hollerich has advocated for the environment and has pushed for laypeople, especially young people, to have more involvement in the Church. ASIALuis Antonio Tagle (Philippines), 67, Metropolitan Archbishop emeritus of ManilaTagle, Asia’s frontrunner for the papacy, is a charismatic moderate who has not been afraid to criticise the Church for its shortcomings, including over sexual abuse of minors. Fluent in English, he is an eloquent speaker with self-deprecating humour and, like Francis, is a leading advocate for the poor, migrants and marginalised people. Nicknamed “Chito”, he was made a cardinal by Benedict XVI in 2012 and had already been considered a candidate for pope in the 2013 conclave in which Francis was elected.Charles Maung Bo (Myanmar), 76, Archbishop of YangonPresident of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences, Maung Bo was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2015, his country’s first and only cardinal.Bo has called for dialogue and reconciliation in conflict-ridden Myanmar, and after the military coup of 2021 appealed to opposition protesters to remain non-violent. He has defended the persecuted mainly Muslim Rohingya, calling them victims of “ethnic cleansing”, and spoken out against human trafficking uprooting the lives of many young Burmese. AFRICA Peter Turkson (Ghana), 76, Archbishop emeritus of Cape Coast One of the Church’s most influential cardinals from Africa, Turkson is often mentioned as a possible first black pope — although he said in a 2010 he didn’t want the job, insisting any such pope would “have a rough time”.He serves as the Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. Born into a humble family of 10 children, Turkson speaks six languages and has visited the World Economic Forum in Davos multiple times to convince business leaders of the perils of trickle-down economics. Fridolin Ambongo Besungu (Democratic Republic of Congo), 65, Archbishop of KinshasaAmbongo is the only cardinal from Africa on Pope Francis’s Council of Cardinals, the advisory committee to the pontiff.As president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, he signed a letter in January 2024 voicing opposition to the Vatican’s declaration allowing priests to carry out non-liturgical blessings of same-sex unions. In a 2023 interview, Ambongo proclaimed that “Africa is the future of the Church, it’s obvious”.AMERICASRobert Francis Prevost (United States), 69, Archbishop-Bishop emeritus of Chiclayo A native of Chicago, Prevost is the prefect of the powerful Dicastery for Bishops, which is charged with advising the pope on appointments of new bishops.He spent years as a missionary in Peru and is the Archbishop-Bishop emeritus of Chiclayo in that South American country.Made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2023, he is also the president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. Timothy Dolan (United States), 75, Archbishop of New YorkA jovial, ruddy-faced extrovert with Irish-American roots, Dolan is a theological conservative, fiercely opposed to abortion.The former archbishop of Milwaukee, he oversaw the fallout from a major sexual abuse scandal in the diocese. In New York, amid shrinking Church membership, Dolan has reached out to embrace the growing Hispanic population, which is predominantly Catholic.