Mexican cardinals who could be elected Pope in the conclave

Should Pope Francis die or resign due to health problems, the Holy See would call a conclave to elect his successor.

Of the current 252 members of the College of Cardinals , only 138 cardinals can vote and be elected, since they are under 80 years of age .

Of Mexico's six cardinals, two would be eligible to participate in closed-door meetings in the Sistine Chapel , so in addition to voting for the next pontiff, they are also eligible for that position.

They are Carlos Aguiar Retes, Archbishop Primate of Mexico , and Francisco Robles Ortega , Archbishop of Guadalajara. The latter participated in the 2013 conclave in which the Argentine Jorge Bergoglio was elected as successor to Benedict XVI.

Also participating on that occasion were Norberto Rivera Carrera , who was archbishop primate of Mexico and is currently 82 years old; and Juan Sandoval Iñiguez , archbishop emeritus of Guadalajara, 91 years old.

For Aguiar Retes , who was named cardinal by Pope Francis in 2016, it would be his first conclave. He would also be the only one of the four Mexican cardinals named by the current pontiff who could participate. The others are Sergio Obeso Rivera, who died in 2018; Alberto Suárez Inda, 86 years old, and Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel, 84.

Read. There is speculation about who could succeed Pope Francis

The rules of the conclave include the following:

• The Pope must be elected with a minimum of two-thirds of the votes of the cardinal electors (those under 80 years of age).
• The process takes place in several sessions. Once a vote is over, the ballots are burned.
• If the number of votes is met, there is a successor and it is announced with the white smoke .
• If the required votes are not reached, black smoke will emerge .

Read. What happens if a Pope dies and how is a successor chosen?

Regarding the chances of being elected, Roberto Velázquez Nieto, a researcher at the Vatican Apostolic Archives, told Proceso that although neither of the Mexicans is among those most nominated, both have a chance of being elected.

“We should not rule out anyone. Anyone can 'win the tiger's raffle'. Let us not forget that Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was not among the favourites at the time, and yet he became Pope Francis . Papal elections can always bring surprises,” the specialist stressed.

According to the interviewee, Mexico, along with Brazil, is one of the countries with the largest Catholic population in Latin America and the epicenter of the Guadalupe cult, which has an important economic importance for the Vatican. In addition, its geopolitical location, with a shared border with the United States, gives it a strategic role that could be considered in the election of a new pontiff.

In terms of their careers, both Aguiar Retes and Robles Ortega have held key positions within the Church. Both have presided over the Mexican Episcopal Conference and have held positions within the Vatican.

According to Velázquez Nieto, both cardinals share the ecclesiastical vision promoted by Pope Francis, avoiding aligning themselves with extreme positions within the Church and staying somewhere in the middle, open to dialogue.

Below is a profile of the Mexican cardinals who could participate in the conclave to elect the new Pope.

Carlos Aguiar Retes has been the Archbishop Primate of Mexico since December 2017. He was born on January 9, 1950, in Tepic, Nayarit. His academic training began at the Seminary of Tepic, where he studied Humanities and Philosophy between 1961 and 1969. Later, he studied Theology at the Seminary of Montezuma, in the United States (1969-1972), and at the Seminary of Tula, Hidalgo (1972-1973).

He was ordained deacon on December 24, 1971, and on April 22, 1973, he received the priesthood in the Cathedral of Tepic. That same day he celebrated his first mass in the Parish of San José, belonging to the Diocese of Tepic.

On May 28, 1997, Pope John Paul II appointed him Third Bishop of Texcoco, and he was consecrated on June 29 of that same year. Later, on February 3, 2009, Benedict XVI appointed him Archbishop of Tlalnepantla, succeeding Monsignor Ricardo Guízar Díaz.

He was also president of the Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM) between 2011 and 2015 and is currently a member of the Council for Interreligious Dialogue and the Commission for Latin America in the Vatican.

Francisco Robles Ortega , Archbishop of Guadalajara since February 2012, when he succeeded Cardinal Sandoval Íñiguez.

He was born on March 2, 1949 in Mascota, Jalisco. He began his education at the Minor Seminary of Autlán, then studied Philosophy at the Major Seminary of Guadalajara and Theology at the Seminary of Zamora.

He was ordained a priest on July 20, 1976 in the Diocese of Autlán by Bishop José Maclovio Vázquez Silos. Between 1976 and 1979, he studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he obtained a Licentiate in Dogmatic Theology. Upon his return to Mexico, he served as parish priest at the Shrine of Guadalupe in Autlán, professor of Philosophy and Theology, rector of the diocesan Seminary, as well as Vicar General and Diocesan Administrator of Autlán.

In 1991, John Paul II appointed him Auxiliary Bishop of Toluca, receiving episcopal consecration on June 5 of that same year. After the death of Alfredo Torres Romero, he assumed the position of titular Bishop of Toluca on June 15, 1996. He remained in office until June 25, 2003, when he was appointed Archbishop of Monterrey.

In 2012 he was appointed President Delegate of the XIII Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization. He held the presidency of the Mexican Episcopate for two consecutive periods (2012-2015 and 2015-2018) and in the Vatican he is part of the Congregation for Bishops and the Dicastery for Evangelization. He was also a member of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.