A Swedish cardinal considered to be among the potential favourites to succeed Pope Francis said Tuesday that he did not expect to be elected at the coming conclave.
“It would be fun to have a Swedish pope but I think it’s pretty unlikely. Highly unlikely,” Anders Arborelius, 75, told Swedish public broadcaster SVT.
Arborelius, the first Swedish Catholic bishop since the Protestant Reformation more than 500 years ago, was appointed as the Scandinavian country’s first cardinal in 2017.
He converted to Catholicism at the age of 20 in the overwhelmingly Protestant country but also home to one of the world’s most secularised societies.
Arborelius confirmed he would take part in the conclave to elect the next pope but told SVT that he had asked Francis to release him from his duties as cardinal, because he wants to return to live in his monastery in southern Sweden.
He said the pope had approved his request but no date had been set for the end of his tenure.
“So now I’m left hanging a little,” he said. A former Carmelite monk, Arborelius is known as a staunch defender of Church doctrine, notably opposed to allowing women to be deacons or blessing same-sex couples.
Like Francis, Arborelius advocates welcoming migrants to Europe, including Christians, Catholics and potential converts.
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