There are no official candidates for the papacy, but some cardinals are considered “papabile,” or possessing the characteristics necessary to become pope. After St. John Paul II broke the centurieslong Italian hold on the papacy in 1978, the field of contenders has broadened considerably.

When Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was elected in 2013 as Pope Francis, he was a near total Vatican outsider. He had never been a Vatican official, instead spending decades in local ministry. And he came from Argentina,

Cardinals rank just below the pope, and those who belong to the powerful College of Cardinals are tasked with electing a new pontiff in the centuries-old conclave. It leads to the election of a pope and derives its name from the Italian "con clave",