Real world Conclave: Inside the Pope Francis succession drama

Pope Francis is reportedly on the mend, after a case of double pneumonia landed the 88-year-old pontiff in a Rome hospital for over a month, and doctors warned that he “might not make it.”But he remains frail and could not lead Easter services, instead leaving the honors to several cardinals.“He hasn’t fully healed yet,” Dr.

Sergio Alfieri, the head of the pope’s medical team, recently said.Amidst it all, it’s almost certain that cardinals are already discussing Francis’ potential successor, and have top contenders in mind to avoid a lengthy conclave.The last time there was a papal vacancy, in 2013, the late Pope Benedict XVI, then 85, resigned the position, the first pope to do so in 600 years.It took two weeks for Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the archbishop of Buenos Aires — and future Pope Francis — to be elected.By Vatican standards, “two weeks is not a long time,” said John Thavis, a papal expert and author of “The Vatican Diaries: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Power, Personalities and Politics at the Heart of the Catholic Church.”But it’s unlikely that the next transition will take as long.

“One reason is that the cardinals are very much aware that the world is watching and waiting,” Thavis told the Post.“A drawn-out conclave lasting a week or more would inevitably invite speculation about division at the highest levels of the church.

Even worse, a long conclave would probably lose the world’s interest.The fear is that the network anchors would be packing their bags if there’s no white smoke within a week.”There’s likely to be even more attention on the Vatican thanks to “Conclave,” the Academy Award-nominated film from 2024 that was, for many Americans, their first peek into what happens behind-the-scenes during the passing of the mitre. In it, power-hungry cardinals conspire and blackmail to become the next pontiff, with round after round of voting that’s nearly disrupted by a terrorist bomb attack...