Representation and Justice: Closing the Cardinal Elector Gap
The College of Cardinals, long perceived as the gateway to the highest ecclesiastical office, stands today at a crossroads. Despite decades of demographic shifts within global Catholicism, glaring imbalances persist in the body responsible for electing the Pope. A critical examination reveals that electoral inequities within the College of Cardinals are not merely statistical anomalies but systemic injustices with profound implications for the Church’s global mission and credibility.
As Pew Research Center (2023) indicates, while Africa, Asia, and Latin America account for nearly 70% of the global Catholic population, they remain markedly underrepresented among the cardinal electors. In contrast, Europe, which comprises less than 20% of Catholics worldwide, holds a disproportionately large share of voting power. This phenomenon, as National Catholic Reporter (2022) argues, is neither a historical accident nor an administrative oversight; it reflects entrenched structural biases within the Church’s governing mechanisms.
Catholic News Service (2022) provides a detailed statistical breakdown revealing that as of 2024, 43% of the cardinal electors hail from Europe, compared to 16% from Latin America, 12% from Africa, and just 9% from Asia. Despite successive papal efforts to internationalize the College—most notably by Pope Francis, as reported by Catholic News Agency (2023)—the changes remain incremental, insufficient to mirror the actual demographic reality of the global Church.
The question arises: why has the College been so slow to reform? Deutsche Welle (2023) suggests that historical inertia, coupled with an implicit Eurocentric theological and institutional bias, continues to shape the selection of cardinals. The systemic preference for European cardinals, often tied to ancient episcopal sees, outweighs considerations of global representation, even as the geographical heart of Catholicism steadily migrates southward and eastward.
Moreover, the political consequences of this imbalance are severe. BBC News (2022) contends that the underrepresentation of the Global South leads to theological, pastoral, and cultural blind spots in the Church’s highest decision-making processes. Doctrinal formulations, episcopal appointments, and curial policies are all affected by the electoral priorities established in conclave, thus perpetuating a cycle of exclusion.
The nature of this exclusion is particularly evident when examining Africa’s position. As Africanews (2023) reports, despite Africa’s booming Catholic population—expected to double by 2050—its representation among cardinal electors lags far behind. Fides News Agency (2023) emphasizes that African bishops often oversee dioceses with millions of faithful, yet many such leaders are overlooked for cardinalate appointments in favor of their counterparts in smaller, often declining European dioceses.
The disparity has not gone unnoticed. Voices from within the Church, such as those cited by Jesuit Conference of Africa and Madagascar (2021), increasingly call for a reimagining of criteria for cardinalate selection, emphasizing pastoral effectiveness, evangelization vigor, and faithful demographic representation rather than adherence to outdated geopolitical traditions.
La Croix International (2023) adds that the cardinalate, as currently structured, undermines the Church’s proclaimed commitment to synodality and universality. The imbalance within the College of Cardinals not only contradicts these ideals but risks alienating vast portions of the Catholic faithful who see little of their realities reflected at the highest levels of Church leadership.
Efforts to address the gap have been made, albeit inconsistently. As Vatican News (2023) details, Pope Francis has elevated numerous cardinals from historically underrepresented regions, including Africa, Asia, and Latin America. His appointments signal a deliberate shift toward a more global College. Nevertheless, as The Pillar (2023) observes, structural reforms, such as limiting cardinalatial sees in Europe or creating new cardinalate titles outside traditional centers—remain largely theoretical rather than implemented.
The strategic stakes are high. According to Crux (2024), the future credibility of the papacy itself hinges on its capacity to embody the diversity of the global Church. A conclave that fails to reflect the universal reality of Catholicism risks producing leadership out of step with the Church’s missiological priorities and pastoral needs in the Global South.
Furthermore, as Center for Global Catholicism (2021) discusses, the election of a Pope increasingly requires not only spiritual discernment but also a profound awareness of global social, economic, and cultural dynamics. A College of Cardinals dominated by European perspectives may inadvertently elect leadership unable to effectively shepherd a Church whose epicenters are in Lagos, Manila, and São Paulo rather than Rome, Paris, or Vienna.
The statistics presented in the Pontifical Yearbook (2024) corroborate this concern: although some diversification has occurred, cardinal electors from the Global South are still vastly outnumbered, and Latin American and African cardinals combined constitute less than a third of the electorate.
Institutional inertia, however, is not insurmountable. As National Catholic Register (2024) proposes, a series of strategic steps could accelerate equitable representation. These include capping the number of cardinal electors per continent, decoupling the cardinalate from historic dioceses, prioritizing leadership in areas of Catholic growth, and introducing more transparent and consultative processes in appointments.
The implications extend beyond ecclesiastical governance. The Tablet (2023) points out that authentic representation in the College of Cardinals would also foster greater credibility in ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, as well as in the Church’s broader engagement with global social justice issues. Representation is not merely about numbers; it is about the integrity and effectiveness of the Church’s universal witness.
Read also: Africa’s Time: A Pope For A Global Church—Part 4
As UCANews (2024) notes, Asian Catholic leaders have begun advocating for reforms that would guarantee a minimum threshold of representation based on continental Catholic populations. Similarly, Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (2022) recommends a statistical recalibration of representation benchmarks, ensuring that future conclaves align more closely with the Church’s actual demographic composition.
The College of Cardinals faces a choice: will it evolve to represent the current Church, or remain outdated? According to Catholic World Report (2023), the credibility of the next conclave, and the future papacy, depends on a solid dedication to justice, representation, and the global Catholic community.
The urgency is clear. Failure to close the cardinal elector gap risks not only reinforcing institutional injustices but also alienating the vibrant, growing sectors of the Church whose energy and faith will define Catholicism’s future. Justice in the College of Cardinals is no longer an ideal to aspire to—it is an existential necessity for the survival and flourishing of the Catholic Church in the 21st century.
References
Africanews, 2023. Africa Still Underrepresented in Papal Elections, Despite Growth. Africanews. Available at: https://www.africanews.com [Accessed 28 April 2025].
BBC News, 2022. The Global South and the Papacy: Who Really Gets to Vote? BBC News. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news [Accessed 28 April 2025].
Catholic News Agency, 2023. Pope Francis Appoints New Cardinals: A Global Shift? Catholic News Agency. Available at: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com [Accessed 28 April 2025].
Catholic News Service, 2022. Disparities in the College of Cardinals: A Statistical Review. Catholic News Service. Available at: https://www.catholicnews.com [Accessed 28 April 2025].
Catholic World Report, 2023. Global Representation in the Church: Still an Uneven Field. Catholic World Report. Available at: https://www.catholicworldreport.com [Accessed 28 April 2025].
Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), 2022. Cardinals and Conclaves: Regional Distribution Since 1900. CARA Reports. Available at: https://cara.georgetown.edu [Accessed 28 April 2025].
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