After Pope Francis passed away on Easter Monday, speculation is already brewing as to who his successor may be, and many are noting that Hungarian Cardinal Péter Erdő, the archbishop of Budapest-Esztergom, may be a likely choice, Magyar Nemzet reports.
Erdő, 72, was ordained to priesthood in 1975 and became a bishop in 1999. The leader of the Hungarian Roman Catholic Church since 2002, he became a member of the papal conclave in 2003.
Citing the U.K. gambling company, William Hill, Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle and Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin are the frontrunners to succeed Ferenc, both with odds of 7/4 and a probability of becoming pope at 36.4 percent.
In third place is Cardinal Péter Erdő, whose odds stand at 8/1, with a probability of leading the Catholic Church of 11 percent. Behind him are Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson and former Canadian Archbishop of Quebec Mark Ouellet. Erdő is broadly seen as a conservative but has a good reputation with the liberal wing of the Catholic Church as well.
Meanwhile, former diplomat and security policy expert Attila Demko wrote on Facebook about Erdő as well: “Following the death of Pope Francis – it’s not pretty, but that’s the way the world is – speculation has already begun about his successor. If ever, then in the current internal Western culture war, it is a particularly big question as to who will lead the Catholic Church, which has 1.4 billion followers,” he said.
Demko then cited an article out of Newsweek, which named the Hungarian cardinal the 4th most likely candidate, and recalled that Erdő had already been among the possible successors after the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI back in 2013.
Erdő’s name popped up again three years ago when Pope Francis fell ill and speculation about who may succeed him began.
