Pope Francis’ papacy was marked by significant engagement with the Middle East, celebrating a Mass that used Arabic and Aramaic languages to connect with the locals in Iraq and meeting with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, a leading Shiite cleric, to promote Sunni-Shia-Christian dialogue — a first for the papacy.
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As the Church prepares for the next conclave to elect his successor, three key cardinals from the Middle East, all appointed by Francis, will play a pivotal role.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, a 60-year-old Franciscan and the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, is the first modern cardinal to hold this dual role while residing in Israel. Pizzaballa made international headlines following the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, when he publicly offered himself in exchange for hostages held in terrorist captivity — a gesture that highlighted his courage and pastoral commitment.
Cardinal Dominique Mathieu, 61, the Archbishop of Tehran-Isfahan in Iran, is another Franciscan appointed by Francis. Though Belgian by birth, Mathieu has previously served in Lebanon and now leads a tiny Catholic community in Iran, where Catholics make up less than one percent of the population. His position is particularly challenging, as conversion to Christianity is illegal in the Muslim-majority country, and the archbishopric had been vacant since 2014.
Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako, the 75-year-old Chaldean Patriarch of Baghdad, Iraq, was elevated to cardinal in 2018. Sako has shepherded Iraq’s Christian communities through the devastation left by the 2014 ISIS invasion. He shared this with us about Pope Francis’ legacy and what needs to come next:
“We feel that he was a father. I was just before my father, and very, very humble and very close to his host guest. And this is very, very important. We don’t need someone who is a prince or an authoritarian. We need someone who is close to people, who feels also the challenges of the time, and to speak about that, to defend and protect human rights.”
While no longer eligible to vote in the conclave, Cardinal Béchara Boutros Raï, the 85-year-old Maronite Patriarch of Antioch in Lebanon, will still participate in the general congregations leading up to the conclave — discussions that help shape the direction and priorities of the Church.
As the global Church faces a time of transition, the legacy of Christian witness under persecution — with over 300 million Christians worldwide living under threat — looms large. The voices of these Middle Eastern cardinals will carry special weight in the days ahead at the Vatican, reminding the Church of both its suffering members and its call to unity.
Adapted by Jacob Stein
