An American Croatian Cardinal has been summoned to the Vatican. He will help appoint the next head of the Roman Catholic church following the death this week of Pope Francis.
According to a report in the Chicago Sun Times, Cardinal Blase Čupich will travel to Rome to mourn the death of Pope Francis. He will then help choose his successor.
Čupich is one of three influential Roman Catholic bishops with Chicago ties. He was appointed by a newly elected Pope Francis to lead Chicago’s faithful in 2014. Two years later, he was elevated to the role of cardinal, a “prince of the church.”
Čupich said this week that the legacy of Pope Francis – the church’s first South American pope – can be encapsulated in one word: mercy.
“He felt as though we were so reluctant to give people sometimes a second chance, to cut them some slack. He reminded everybody that we all have benefited from God’s mercy in our lives,” the cardinal said in an interview with the American publication on Monday.
“In fact, himself, he said that his calling to the priesthood was because God showed him mercy, first of all,” added Cardinal Čupich.
Čupich’s ‘100 percent’ Croatian ancestry
The sarma loving, American Croatian cardinal, 76, is the grandson of Croatian immigrants to the United States.
In 2014, when he was first appointed Archbishop, Čupich spoke fondly about his heritage. He said he was “100 percent” Croatian, with all four of his Croatian grandparents making their way independently to Omaha in Nebraska, in the early part of the 20th century.
In 2022, Cardinal Čupich was part of the Croatian celebration of the Feast Day of St. Blaise, the patron saint of Dubrovnik, in the medieval Dalmatian city.
He revealed a fun fact to the congregation. He told them his grandfather was born on the feast day of his namesake saint and Dubrovnik’s patron saint, St Blaise, in 1887 in the small village of Donji Andrijevci in the Eastern Croatian region of Slavonia.
When Cardinal Čupich arrives in the Vatican, he will be one of 135 cardinal electors aged under 80. They are eligible to vote for the new successor.
They will vote in secret inside the Sistine Chapel. The entire process could last several days until a decision has been reached.
White smoke signifies successor found
At day’s end, black smoke being emitted from the chimney would suggest no decision had been made. White smoke would signify that a candidate had received the necessary two-thirds of the votes to be appointed Pope Francis’ successor.
Once it becomes official, the new pope will step out onto the balcony for the world to see the new head of the worldwide Roman Catholic church.
