Meet the British cardinals who will help choose the next Pope

The conclave to select the new pontiff will contain an unusually large number of British cardinals, three of whom are outside contenders for the top job itself. Catherine Pepinster reveals how they might influence the process

When the cardinals gather behind locked doors in the Sistine Chapel for the secret process to select Pope Francis’s successor, it will be a ballot unlike any other. Never before will so many cardinals have come from so many countries across the globe.

Once, the College of Cardinals was dominated by Italians in particular, and Europeans in general. But over the years, more and more have been appointed to what the Catholic Church calls the “red hat” – after a cardinal’s summer sombrero – from the far corners of the earth. For example, Pope Francis appointed representatives from East Timor, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Papua New Guinea and Mongolia, all of whom will now help to elect his successor.

But there is one way in which the current College of Cardinals – the body made up of 252 cardinals, 135 of which are eligible to vote in the conclave, 108 of which were appointed by Pope Francis – is unique: it includes four cardinals representing England and Wales. Never before has this country had quite so many.

In many ways, this is surprising. The Vatican has a long memory, and the English Reformation, when Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic Church and founded his own Church of England because he was refused an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, still looms large. It has been 866 years since the last British pontiff.

I can remember a visit to Rome of the then-Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, when, at a dinner in the British embassy to the Holy See, the priest giving the after-dinner speech talked about the love letters between Henry and Anne Boleyn, stolen by a Vatican spy and still kept in the Vatican archives now. Rome has not forgotten that among those executed by Henry for their fidelity to Rome was a cardinal, John Fisher. For nearly 300 years, no Roman Catholic cardinal was resident in England.

And then there were Francis’s own Argentinian roots. Back home, he would celebrate mass for the souls of the Argentinian dead of the Falklands war – a sympathy that caused alarm bells to ring in the British Foreign Office when he was elected pope, and which sent the UK ambassador scurrying to the Vatican to confirm the UK’s approach to what Francis, like all Argentinians, called the Malvinas.

But there have been other signs of improving relations with the UK: strong ecumenical ties with the Church of England, supported by Francis, and his message, soon after his election, given to cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, to give his good wishes to Elizabeth II, whom he invited to Rome. They met in 2014. He also met the then-Prince Charles on several occasions, including at 2019’s canonisation of the English cardinal, John Henry Newman.

Newman was one of two English cardinals at the same time in the late 19th century, but to have four is unprecedented.

The first is not a surprise: Vincent Nichols, 79, follows a long line of archbishops of Westminster appointed cardinal. Then there is Arthur Roche, 74, the former bishop of Leeds who now heads up a Vatican department called Divine Worship, which focuses on the liturgy.

Bestowing a red hat is a personal gift of the pope: Francis gave one to Michael Fitzgerald, 87, for his work on inter-religious dialogue, and also to Dominican friar Timothy Radcliffe, 79, much loved by many Catholics for his spiritual writings and a frequent adviser to Francis.

As Nichols, Roche and Radcliffe are all under 80, they could find themselves talked up in conclave and in the running for the top job itself – and while none are currently considered favourites for the role, stranger things have happened during the democratic process that goes through multiple rounds of discussions and voting. Certainly, they will each have ballots to cast, and will bring to the process their experience of how Catholicism fares in contemporary Britain; a country increasingly secular yet also religiously diverse – something that fascinates the Vatican.

Although Fitzgerald is too old to vote, an elderly cardinal can play a hugely influential role, too. They can participate in the general congregations – the conversations cardinals have in advance of the conclave – and other events.

At the last conclave in 2013, Murphy-O’Connor, 85, proved to be quite a kingmaker, not only through those congregations but through the British embassy. A reception brought together cardinals from across the Commonwealth, where they were addressed by Murphy-O’Connor, who no doubt told them all about his old friend, cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires. Just a few days later, Bergoglio was elected, taking Francis as his papal name.

Murphy-O’Connor’s behind-the-scenes mastery of Vatican politics is a lesson for the English quartet of red hats this time round, and they certainly have a huge amount of experience to bear, not only of the Catholic Church in Britain, but in how the Vatican operates. As a member of several committees, Nichols is a frequent visitor to Rome, Roche has been based there for 12 years, and Fitzgerald ran a department on interfaith for years before serving as a Vatican diplomat in Cairo, Egypt.

Radcliffe was once based there when he was master of the global Dominican order and proved during the Synods held in the last few years, where he gave reflections, that he has an uncanny knack for unpicking knotty problems and bringing people together. That’s a great talent during a conclave – but it would stand someone in good stead, should they also be elected Pope.