As the Roman Catholic Church begins a new chapter, lay opinions differ on who should succeed Pope Francis

As the faithful across the globe mourned the life of Pope Francis last week, the focus now shifts to selecting the 267th pope to lead the nearly 1 billion Roman Catholics worldwide.

That decision lies with the conclave, consisting of about 140 eligible cardinals who must convene 15 to 20 days after the death of a pope, according to Canon Law.

While a handful of cardinals are believed to be front-runners to succeed Pope Francis, who died April 21 of a stroke and heart disease, opinions in the Pittsburgh region vary on whom that man should be, where he should come from, and what he should represent for the future of the church.

Many said they hope the next pontiff returns the church to its traditional roots after Pope Francis placed restrictions on the Latin Mass in 2021, saying the practice was being used in an ideological way and pulling the church backward, and made the radical move to change Vatican policy allowing priests to bless same-sex couples in 2023.

The only Latin Masses celebrated in the Pittsburgh area currently take place at Most Precious Blood of Jesus Parish in Brighton Heights, where a Mass in Latin is offered daily and twice on Sunday. Many women attend services wearing the traditional liturgical lace veil, known as a matilla, which is a less common sight at English-speaking Masses in the region.

Emily Bacho, 28, of Bethel Park, said she tries to make the approximately hour-long trip to the church when she can, but hopes Latin Masses return to more churches under the next pope.

"I would love it if there was (a Latin Mass) closer, which I'm hoping for with the next pope ... the tradition is important to me because I grew up going to Mass where it was more watered-down, the emphasis on the Eucharist was lesser, it kind of felt more Protestant than Catholic," Bacho said.

In 2018, Pope Francis approved of Catholics receiving the Eucharist, also known as Holy Communion, in their hands while remaining standing after it was historically placed directly on the tongue of a kneeling churchgoer.

"As an adult, I learned more about the Latin Mass and I saw the love and honor the Eucharist deserves was there, which I think needs to be brought back so people understand the reverence it deserves," she said.

Concerning the next pope, Bacho said she would like to see someone like Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, 60, who has served as Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem since 2020 and is thought to be a favorite due to his younger age and expertise on the Middle East. He hails from Italy — where the vast majority of popes have come from — and is considered a conservative in the church, supporting traditional doctrines.

"With Cardinal Pizzaballa, a longer papacy would be nice for somebody with a good traditional mindset," Bacho said.

To many in the area, particularly younger Catholics, a return to orthodoxy under the next pope is an appealing prospect.

Pope Francis was elected to the papacy in 2013, and succeeded Pope Benedict, who was widely considered a fundamentalist conservative.

Andrew Kurzawski, who teaches theology at Aquinas Academy of Pittsburgh while working toward ordination as a deacon in the Byzantine Catholic Church, said he has witnessed a craving among younger Catholics to attend traditional Masses that include Latin liturgy reading or Gregorian chants, a style of meditative sacred song that features repetitive phrases.

Kurzawski, 40, said he hopes the next pope places more emphasis on the teaching of the sacraments — like Holy Communion or Penance, also known as confession — after a 2019 Pew Study found that just a third of U.S. Catholics believe in the transubstantiation — the idea that the bread and wine used during Mass become the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

"That's a major issue in Catholicism because that's the essence of what we are as believers," he said. "We really wanted to see good catechesis and good teaching on what the sacraments are all about. We want to see priests celebrate the mass reverently and actually feel like you went to something holy."

Moving forward

The Rev. Kate Walker of the First Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh said she wasn't surprised that many Pittsburgh Catholics are looking forward to a return to orthodoxy under the next pope.

"Particularly here in Western Pennsylvania, this is a more conservative pocket of Catholicism," Rev. Walker said. "This is where I've experienced the biggest mix of progressives who have left the faith because Western Pennsylvania Catholics are so conservative."

Rev. Walker said she hoped the conclave would select someone with ideals similar to those of Pope Francis.

"We are hopeful that the conclave will produce a progressive pope who will continue to move the church in a way that continues what we believe is the teaching of Jesus, to be radically inclusive based on love and compassion and fundamentally about justice for all people," she said.

Regina Ranelli, 55, of Polish Hill, said though she would also like to see a return to traditional roots, she hopes it can be done through a modern lens with the mercy Pope Francis exhibited. He was known for rejecting many of the trappings of the church, choosing to live in a modest Vatican apartment and drive an older car, and he made serving the poor a centerpiece of his ministry.

"It's not going backwards necessarily, but it's moving forward, integrating tradition with the current needs of those who we interact with," she said. "We don't want to alienate people. We want to reach out to those who are given to us to serve. That's what Jesus did. Whoever was in front of him, he loved them as they were ... and that is Pope Francis with the ministry of accompaniment."

During his papacy, Francis emphasized the art of accompaniment, which focuses on tolerance, listening deeply to others, and acknowledging individual differences.

"That's very relevant and we don't want to throw that out," Ranelli said. "We want to integrate that, but we also don't want to throw out the really important traditions."

Ranelli also said she hopes politics are kept out of the decision-making process.

"The only agenda I want is Jesus," she said. "I don't want any political agenda or human agenda to get in the way of the Holy Spirit's action, because it's supposed to be the Holy Spirit who's acting. If we believe that, even if it's someone we don't want, we have to believe that."

Others said they hoped Francis' successor carries on his legacy of communication and understanding with the world's different faith communities.

He was the first pontiff to visit Iraq when he went to Najaf in 2021 to meet with the revered Shiite Muslim leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to advocate for peace between Christians and Muslims in the region.

"Pope Francis dedicated his life to compassion and dialogue and understanding the different faiths other than the Christians," said Benjamin Aysan, outreach director for the Turkish Cultural Center in Pittsburgh. "His purpose inspired millions through his unwavering commitment to the poor, his calls for peace, and his efforts to renew the church, so he's really different than the other popes."

Aysan, who is Muslim, attended the service for Francis at St. Paul Cathedral in Oakland on Monday, the day he died.

"Accepting people in their own situations is the first step of dialogue and it's so important and Pope Francis did this very perfectly," he said. "I don't know who is going to be the next pope, but for global peace and understanding ... we need to understand each other."

Others said they hope that whoever is chosen to lead the church will do so with some of the humility Francis brought to his ministry.

"He was open to a lot of things, and he was open to a lot of different types of people. His humility made it easy," said Rabbi Yaier Lehrer of Adat Shalom Synagogue in Fox Chapel. "He was a humble man, so he did his best to respect other people. And that's something that I really admire."

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