San Francisco Frontiers - Pietro Parolin, career diplomat leading race to be pope

The 70-year-old Italian was secretary of state -- the Vatican's effective number two -- for almost the entire Francis pontificate, and its most visible exponent on the world stage.

With his air of calm and subtle sense of humour, Parolin is the consummate diplomat, a polyglot with experience in Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.

He played a key role in mediating a thaw between the United States and Cuba, as well as making a key Vatican agreement with China on naming bishops.

Parolin is the favourite to replace Francis, who died on April 21, when the conclave of cardinals starts meeting on May 7.

He is well known to world leaders and diplomats. Crucially, he also has a fine grasp of the intricacies the Roman Curia, the Holy See's central government, and was part of a group of cardinal advisors to Francis.

His role, and his moderate positions on many social issues, would suggest continuity with Francis if he were to become pope. At the same time, sources say he can reconcile the Church's different factions.

"He's the best known cardinal of them all. But the question is whether his profile will help create a consensus around him. It could also work against him," an ecclesiastical source in Rome told AFP, speaking anonymously.

The source noted that Parolin "has never had pastoral responsibilities and has taken few positions on societal issues".

"He has remained in a very institutional role. It is difficult to know what he thinks, which could be a weak point."

- From Vietnam to China -

Fluent in French, English, and Spanish, Parolin is approachable but cautious in public, avoiding any statements that could be misinterpreted -- unlike the often outspoken Francis.

He frequently found himself seeking to smooth feathers after an outburst by the late pontiff, notably on the Ukraine war, when Francis alternatively offended Ukraine and Russia.

The Argentine pope appointed Parolin shortly after being elected in March 2013, and made him a cardinal in 2014.

Parolin was involved in the Vatican mediation that led to the 2014 resumption of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba.

He was also integral to the signing of a 2018 agreement between the Holy See and China on naming bishops, which has since been renewed.

The accord gave both sides a say on appointments and has been a crucial step in improving relations between the two.

However, the deal has been criticised by some conservatives, particularly Americans, who accused Parolin of sacrificing Chinese Catholics forced into an underground Church.

Parolin advocates for a similar accord with Vietnam.

- A life of faith -

Parolin was born on January 17, 1955, into a deeply Catholic family near Venice in northern Italy. His father managed a hardware store and his mother was a teacher.

His childhood was marked by the tragic loss of his father in a car accident when he was 10, and his vocation came soon afterwards.

Parolin entered the seminary at 14, was ordained a priest at 25 and then went to Rome to study canon law. He also trained as a diplomat, joined the Holy See's diplomatic service in 1986 and has spent the last four decades criss-crossing the globe.

His missions took him to Nigeria until 1989, then to Mexico (1989-1992), war-ravaged Rwanda and then to Venezuela from 2009 to 2013.

Despite his reticence to comment on many societal issues, Parolin has declared that priestly celibacy is not a dogma, and in 2023 described as "indefensible" the attempt to link sexual abuse in the Church with homosexuality.

He also described celibacy as a "gift from God to the Church", has denounced abortion and surrogacy as serious violations of human dignity. Parolin has criticised the idea that gender can differ from sex.

K.Gray--SFF