Reformer or traditionalist: Who to succeed Pope Francis?
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As cardinals from the four corners of the Earth converge on Rome to pick a new pope, we ask whether the faithful want a reformer or a traditionalist. With an increasing share of the planet's 1.4 billion Catholics hailing from the Global South, the choice of a spiritual leader for the world's largest organised religion also constitutes a statement on shared values in a changing world.
Should the next pope ordain women priests, loosen or lift rules on celibacy within the clergy, and extend or halt the outreach to gays, asylum seekers and other outcasts?
After Saturday's public funeral of Francis will come the closed-door dealings of a papal conclave that must weigh spiritual matters and the earthly reality of a church dogged by the exploding time bomb of sex scandals and debt, but whose choice of a leader can prove a powerful voice for bridge-building in a world that desperately needs it.
Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Alessandro Xenos.
