This May 7 begins the Conclave that will serve to define the future Pope of Rome, and among the participants there is a surprising participant (and, therefore, candidate for Pope): the Archbishop of Barcelona.
It is said that he was one of the people closest to Pope Francis and this week he will attend the conclave that will elect the new pontiff after the death of Francis I due to a stroke this past Monday, April 21. He is Juan José Omella Omella, Cardinal and Archbishop of Barcelona, one of the names that most sounded in the last hours before facing the decisive hours of the papal succession.
Born in Cretas, Teruel, in 1946, Omella has positioned himself in the last decade as one of the most relevant figures of the Catholic Church in Spain and Europe.
He was president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference between 2020 and 2024. During that period, Jorge Bergoglio appointed him as a member of the Council of Cardinals, a permanent group of cardinals whose mission is to advise the pope in the government of the Church.
Why is he a good candidate to be the new Pope of Rome?
He is considered a person close to the line of thought of Pope Francis, so his name could be the one who gives the white smoke if the conclave of cardinals opts for a continuist line to that of the Argentine.
Before assuming the position of archbishop of Barcelona, he served as coadjutor, parish priest and episcopal vicar in the diocese of Zaragoza between 1990 and 1996. In that year he was appointed bishop, a position he held in Barbastro-Monzón, Calahorra and La Calzada-Logroño until 2015.
Since 2015 he has been the highest authority of the Catholic Church in Barcelona. 2 years later, in 2017, he was appointed cardinal by Pope Francis on June 28, with the title of Holy Cross in Jerusalem.
Facing the new election, Omella is not openly postulating: “We’ll see what will happen, I’m not going to vote for myself,” he has recognized from the Episcopal Palace, while defining himself as the “most limited” candidate for the post in statements to La Sexta.
José Cobo, Archbishop of Madrid, will be the other Spanish cardinal who will accompany him in Rome starting this week, as well as Ángel Fernández Artime, rector of the Salesians, Antonio Cañizares, Archbishop Emeritus of Valencia, and Carlos Osoro, Archbishop Emeritus of Madrid.
For the election of the Pope, two thirds of the total votes must be obtained for the same candidate for there to be a white smoke by broad consensus.
The conclave is scheduled to begin on Monday, May 5. Before that, on Saturday, April 26, the funeral in honor of Pope Francis will be held.