Here are the four Canadian cardinals who will help elect the next pope
Following Pope Francis’s death, 135 cardinals from around the world will gather at the Vatican to elect a new leader for the Catholic Church. Candidates for becoming the new pope must be male and a baptized Catholic.
This election is known as the conclave, and its members, cardinal electors, are sworn to secrecy about the proceedings within the election itself. Cardinals have to be under 80 years old to vote.
Of the 135 cardinal electors, four Canadians will help find the new pope. They will be joined by 12 other cardinals from North America, two from Mexico and 10 from the U.S. Canada has another cardinal, Marc Ouellet, who retired in 2023. He turned 80 last June and is no longer eligible to vote, though he could still be elected pope.
The conclave traditionally starts 15 to 20 days after the death of the pope. The election will be held until one candidate has a two-thirds majority vote. This will be signalled by white smoke from a chimney visible from St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican.
Here’s what we know about the Canadian cardinals joining the conclave.
Cardinal Thomas Collins
Cardinal Thomas Collins, born Jan. 16, 1947, was the Metropolitan Archbishop Emeritus of Toronto from 2007 to 2023. Ordained as a priest on May 5, 1973, Collins later studied in Rome, receiving a doctorate from the Pontifical Gregorian University specializing in sacred scripture and the Book of Revelation.
Collins received episcopal ordination in May 1997, becoming a Bishop on June 30 of the same year. He has worked as president for the following organizations: the National Theological Commission of the Bishop’s Conference, the National Commission of Ecumenism, the Conference of Bishops of Alberta, and the Saint Joseph’s College Board of Governors at the University of Alberta.
In 1999, he became coadjutor Bishop of Edmonton, and then Archbishop of Edmonton months later. He was appointed Archbishop of Toronto on Dec. 16, 2006.
Collins was created and proclaimed Cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI on Feb. 18, 2012.
Collins was a part of the conclave back in 2013, which elected Pope Francis. He retired in 2023, but is still eligible to vote.
Cardinal Michael Czerny
Czerny was born on July 18, 1946, in Brno (now the Czech Republic). When he was two years old, his family moved to Montreal, Quebec. In 1973, he was ordained a priest.
Czerny was awarded a doctorate in Human Sciences, Social Thought, and Theology from the University of Chicago in 1978. One year later, he founded what is now known as the Forum of Jesuits for Faith and Social Justice. He was the forum’s first director until 1989. Afterwards, he substituted for the six Jesuit priests who were killed at the Central American University of San Salvador in El Salvador.
While in El Salvador, Czerny was vice rector of the university. Later he contributed as a mediator for the United Nations in negotiations that ultimately led to the end of the 12-year-long civil war in El Salvador.
In 1995, Czerny joined a commission of inquiry by the United Nations to Haiti to help in the crisis after a military coup d’etat. During his stay in Africa from 2002 to 2010, Czerny founded the African Jesuit Aids Network to help find solutions to the HIV pandemic.
On Oct. 5, 2019, Pope Francis proclaimed Crerny as Cardinal, and in 2022, he was appointed by the Pope as prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
Cardinal Gérald Lacroix
Lacroix was born on July 27, 1957, in Saint-Hilaire de Dorset, Que., and is the Metropolitan Archbishop of Quebec.
In 1980, he became a missionary and travelled to Columbia. After returning home, he studied at the University of Laval and completed a Bachelor’s degree in theology. Later, he was ordained as a priest in 1988.
Returning to Columbia from 1990 to 1998, he became a missionary in the Archdiocese of Popayán. He also was a member of the diocesan pastoral council, and presbyteral council, and was the director of the commission on the liturgy.
In 2011, he was appointed Archbishop of Quebec.
On Feb. 22, 2014, Lacroix was proclaimed Cardinal by Pope Francis.
Lacroix was accused in 2024 of abusing a 17-year-old girl decades ago, but a Vatican investigation said it found no evidence, as reported by The Catholic News Agency.
Cardinal Frank Leo
Leo was born June 30, 1971, and is the Archbishop of Toronto. He was ordained as a priest on Dec. 14, 1996. Leo obtained a bachelor’s degree in philosophy in 1992, and a doctorate in 2005, specializing in Marian studies at the International Marian Research Institute at the University of Dayton, Ohio.
He served as deputy parish priest of Notre-Dame-de-la-Consolata; administrator of the Parish of Saint-Joseph-de-Rivière-des-Prairies; chaplain for the Roscelli School; religion teacher for the Collège Reine-Marie; and parish priest of Saint-Raymond-de-Peñafort.
Leo also served in the Apostolic Nunciature in Australia from 2008 to 2011. He then joined the Holy See Study Mission in Hong Kong in 2011.
In 2015, Leo was the secretary general of the Canadian Episcopal Conference. In 2021, he became the vicar general and moderator of the Archdiocesan Curia of Montréal.
On Dec. 7, 2024, Pope Francis proclaimed Leo as Cardinal.
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