As the first pope from Latin America, Argentine Pope Francis has cast a bright light on Catholicism in the southern hemisphere and the unique cultural identity of the Church there.
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Francis became the first pope to visit the Amazon in 30 years, breaking a pattern of papal visits by focusing global attention on a region with about 182 million Catholics — roughly 13% of the global Catholic population.
The 23 cardinal electors from the Caribbean, Central, and South America represent a region that accounts for over a fourth of the world’s Catholics. They make up a fifth of the conclave’s eligible voters, the second-largest voting bloc after Europe. These cardinals come from 13 countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. Most were appointed by Pope Francis himself.
Brazil and Mexico, home to the world’s largest Catholic populations, have seven and two cardinal electors, respectively. Among them is Brazil’s Cardinal Paulo Cezar Costa, Archbishop of Brasília, the youngest Latin American cardinal at 57, and Cardinal Jaime Spengler, a 66-year-old Franciscan who now leads the Latin American Episcopal Council.
Other notable Brazilian cardinals include Cardinal Sérgio da Rocha, Cardinal Leonardo Steiner, Cardinal Orani João Tempesta, Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer, and Cardinal João Braz de Aviz.
In Mexico, Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes, nicknamed “the Mexican Francis,” and Cardinal José Francisco Robles Ortega play key roles, while Argentina’s contingent includes Cardinal Vicente Bokalic, Cardinal Mario Aurelio Poli, Cardinal Ángel Rossi, and the influential Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The rest of the region’s cardinal electors include Cardinal Fernando Natalio Chomalí Garib (Chile), Cardinal Luis José Rueda Aparicio (Colombia), Cardinal Luis Gerardo Cabrera Herrera (Ecuador), Cardinal Adalberto Martínez Flores (Paraguay), Cardinal Carlos Gustavo Castillo Mattasoglio (Peru), Cardinal Daniel Fernando Sturla (Uruguay), Cardinal Leopoldo José Brenes Solórzano (Nicaragua), Cardinal Juan de la Caridad García Rodríguez (Cuba), Cardinal Álvaro Leonel Ramazzini Imeri (Guatemala), and Cardinal Chibly Langlois (Haiti).
Although it’s unlikely Latin America will provide the next pope so soon after Francis, the size of its electoral bloc and the Catholic population they represent give them significant influence in the Vatican.
