The main knot that the cardinals who will gather in the Sistine Chapel will have to unravel, in identifying the figure of the new Pontiff, will be to understand who will be able to collect the great legacy of Pope Francis. The many open construction sites left by the deceased Pope, the "initiated processes", as he called them, are just as many chapters for which to write a future and on which, if possible, not to stop, much less go back. In particular, there is the path traced on the "synodal" Church, on which, apart from the two Synods already held, the deceased Pope has called for a further three-year period for implementation, with a great and final "ecclesial assembly" already scheduled for October 2028.
A legacy, therefore, largely already written that will have to be collected by the next, and 266th, successor of Peter. The fact that 108 of the 135 cardinal electors, or 80 percent, were appointed by Francis does not guarantee the final result: it is a very mixed group, many of whom do not know each other, and which also includes fierce opponents of the Bergoglio line. One name for all, the former prefect for the Doctrine of the Faith, Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, in strong contrast with the Bergoglian line. The outcome of the Conclave is therefore very uncertain. And apart from the favorites listed so far by the media (there are the Italians Pietro Parolin, Matteo Zuppi and Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Luis Antonio Tagle, Peter Erdo, Jose Tolentino, Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, Peter Turkson and Robert Sarah), it is possible that in the end a completely surprising name will prevail.
