A hardline stance against LGBTQ+ marriage inside the Catholic Church. A gatekeeper of ‘traditional family values’.
And a supporter of Viktor Orban’s autocratic leadership in Hungary that can also be aligned with Vladimir Putin.
Yes, that is cardinal Péter Erdő – certainly one of the highest candidate to succeed Pope Francis.
His name is gaining quiet but persistent traction amid the ability struggle that can soon engulf the Vatican.
Erdő is considered certainly one of the neatest, most strategic candidates on the list.
As an authority in Church law, he has been on a quick track his entire profession – becoming a bishop in his 40s and a cardinal in 2003 when he was just 51, making him the youngest member of the College of Cardinals until 2010.
He’s from Hungary – so a European, making him a part of the Vatican’s ‘inner circle’.
The Cardinal was also once a papal contender within the last conclave in 2013 as a consequence of his extensive church contacts in Africa and Europe.
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And he’s aged only 72. Considering that Francis died on the age of 88, Erdő could have at the least a decade as a frontrunner of the Catholic Church if the remaining of the Conclave gets behind him.
He speaks Italian, German, French and Spanish, in addition to Russian. This might help him thaw relations between the Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches after the deep chill of the war in Ukraine.
Hungarian Observer hailed him as ‘the pope’s ideal successor’ even before Francis’ death – but is that this accurate?
No matter his achievements, an Erdő papacy can be a signal that the Vatican is heading in a completely different direction from what Francis has left behind.
Where the late pontiff bent the Church – LGBTQ+ acceptance, refugees and a stance against the wars in Ukraine and Gaza – the Hungarian candidate is a purist and will tighten back the foundations.
Erdő raised eyebrows within the Vatican in the course of the 2015 migrant crisis when he went against Francis’ call for churches to absorb refugees, saying that this is able to amount to human trafficking.
His stance appeared to align with Orban’s persisting anti-immigration policies.
In an age of polarisation, the conclave may even see him as a stabilising selection, one that might not cause numerous noise and restructure Catholicism.
British bookmaker William Hill has the Hungarian further down the list, as 10/1. But to dismiss him can be premature.
Erdő is trailing behind better-known names like Vatican secretary of state Pietro Parolin (9/4) and the globally beloved Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle (3/1), who could change into the primary Asian pope.
Heavyweights like Ghana’s Peter Turkson and Italy’s Matteo Zuppi each sit at 6/1.
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