The Next Pope has Already Been Chosen

Christy Romero | 05/05/2025

“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” Romans 8:14

The death of Pope Francis has brought about all kinds of speculation regarding who our next Pope should be. Those that did not like Pope Francis are rooting for a more conservative and moderate Pope. The ones that loved him are praying for a Pope that will continue Pope Francis’ legacy of caring for the poor, the marginalized, and creating a more open Church that embraces all. But I ask myself, why are we worrying about this?

Last Monday, Martha MacCallum from Fox News interviewed Cardinal Timothy Dolan from New York, and I loved what he said. He was part of the last conclave when Pope Francis was elected, and he shared that a Franciscan preacher told them this: “Eminences, you're all scared because you have a tough job to elect the next pope. ... Let me put your mind at ease. It's easy. The Holy Spirit has already chosen the next pope. Your job is to find out who it is."

We are all worrying, and even fighting with each other, when truly, we have no say in the matter. Yes, we can pray about it, but at the end of the day, the next Pope will be selected by God. It’s all part of His plan. And whether we like it or not, we will have to accept it. This is not a presidential election, thank God.

Of course, there is a human element since the Cardinals are human, and they are the ones that will ultimately make the decision. All we can do is pray for them that they open their hearts to the Holy Spirit so they can listen to His voice and He can guide them in their discernment. We should pray for wisdom and clarity of mind so they can select the one that has already been chosen by God. And we should also pray for unity among all the Cardinals so they remain focused on the will of God.

One thing I can say for sure is that the next Pope will not be Pope Francis, Pope Benedict XVI, or Pope John Paul II. He will be a completely different Pope, and I’m excited to see what graces he will bring to our Church. In the end, just like Cardinal Dolan said at the end of his interview: “We don’t belong to different camps (or different churches). We are all believers, disciples, and brothers.” We are all in this together because we are Catholic. Let’s support our Church and our new Pope, who has already been chosen by the Holy Spirit.

God bless our Catholic Church.

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About the Author

Christy Romero

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My name is Christy Romero and I am a cradle Catholic. I met my husband, Rafael, 45 years ago on a Youth Encounter, and we got married four years later. We have three young adult children who are all happily married, and two grandsons that have stolen our hearts. Even though I have always loved writing, God took me on a different career path. I graduated with a degree in Accounting in 1986, and thirty years ago, I established my practice to help small businesses and individuals with their tax filings. Last year, I decided to retire to spend more time with my growing family, and to dedicate more time to writing. I created a blog to share my meditations ten years ago, and I have a faithful following of family and friends. Now, I feel God urging me to share the Good News of the Church that He established over 2,000 years ago with a larger audience. In the words of St. Teresa of Calcutta: “I am just a little pencil in the hand of a writing God sending a love letter to the world.” You can find my writings at https://christysmeditations.blogspot.com/