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UAE: Next Pope must put people first, be a pontiff for peace, Catholics say
The next pontiff must be a shepherd for peace in this troubled world, a spiritual leader who brings balance and unity in religion, says Dubai priest
- PUBLISHED: Thu 8 May 2025, 5:30 AM
A total of 133 cardinals from 70 countries convened on Wednesday, May 7, for the Conclave — the centuries-old process of choosing the next Pope who will replace the late Pope Francis. Names have been forwarded these past few days, but cardinal-electors are bound to follow strict seclusion and secrecy to which they will submit themselves for the election process.
Who the 267th Pope will be can only be answered once a white smoke comes out of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. The faithful believe that the next pontiff must not only lead the world's 1.4 billion Catholics but should also “carry forward the weight and wonder of Francis’ radical humility. One who can translate faith into courage to face a world overwhelmed by conflicts.”
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Sharing his insights with Khaleej Times, Rex Bacarra, formerly known as Dom Venard during his years as a Benedictine monk, said: “For every transition in the papacy, there is a stillness. Not silence, but a sort of global holding of breath. Catholics anxiously await what kind of voice will emerge next from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.
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“As the Catholic world anticipates who will follow him, the more profound question is not who the next Pope should be, but what he must be,” added Bacarra, who previously served as director for administration and taught Philosophy and Humanities at San Beda College in Manila.
Bacarra, who is now a faculty member at Rabdan Academy in Abu Dhabi, where he teaches Ethics, has no preference among the so-called likely successors of Pope Francis. He said: “Honestly, I do not mind if the next one is Italian, Filipino, Congolese, or Indian. Nationality is a frame, not the portrait. What matters is if the man who wears the white robe next is willing to carry forward the weight and wonder of Francis’ radical humility.”
He explained: “Pope Francis boldly disrupted things. He unsettled the status quo. He opened windows that had long shut. His encyclical, Laudato Si, reframed ecology as a moral crisis, that caring for Earth is not just a scientific or political issue, but a moral one. He boldly informed the world that caring for the Earth is not an option, but a commandment. He did not stop there. He questioned capitalism’s excesses and called out the emptiness of materialism. He spoke of a “throwaway culture” that doesn’t just waste goods, but people.”
Bacarra also recalled the historic visit of Pope Francis to the UAE in 2019. “Setting foot on Arabian soil in Abu Dhabi was not just symbolic; it was seismic. It made interfaith not just aspirational, but real,” he noted.
Bacarra pointed out the next Pope must be “a medium through which the voices of the poor would reverberate. “Pope Francis did not speak only from pulpit, he went down and washed feet. He visited the prisoners. He asked questions others were afraid to raise. Even within the Church, his reforms struck people’s nerves as he highlighted financial transparency and bishops’ accountability.”
Pope for peace
The next Pope, Bacarra continued, must be a Pope for peace. “Pope Francis — even in his declining health — maintained nightly calls to Gaza’s Holy Family Church, offering prayers to his suffering community, showing to the world his care amid conflict.
“Pope Francis dared to ask: Should we listen more? Should we rethink the way we exercise power? These were not easy questions to ask, and not everyone liked it. That’s how you know he was doing something right. Real reform doesn’t coddle comfort. It disturbs it. That is the spirit the next Pope must inherit,” he added.
“We do not need a Pope who protects the institution first. We need one who puts people first. We need one who can translate faith into courage, especially in a world overwhelmed by conflicts; by the onslaught of AI; by technology moving too fast for institutional ethics to catch up, and a growing coldness masquerading as patriotism,” Baccarra underscored.
Fr Michael Cardoz, a long-serving priest at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Dubai, shares the same views. He said: “The next pontiff must be a shepherd for peace in this troubled world. A spiritual leader who brings balance and unity in religion, ecumenism (encouraging dialogue and collaboration between churches), environment protection, and preferential option for the poor.
“The next Pope must have a strong spiritual foundation and must hold true to the empowerment of the laity and church workers,” he added.
Prayer for the next Pope
Bishop Paolo Martinelli OFM Cap., Apostolic Vicar of Southern Arabia, called on all parishes across the UAE and neighbouring countries to support the ongoing Conclave with prayers.
He said: “I invite the parish priests to ensure that the faithful have the opportunity to pray together for this holy intention. It is not strictly necessary to have additional moments of prayer, but I invite you first of all, to pray for this intention during the holy masses, in the prayer of the holy rosary, liturgy of the hours and in eucharistic adoration.
“I ask all ecclesial associations and movements to pray for this intention. I also ask all the faithful to pray both personally and in their family for the power of the Holy Spirit to guide our cardinals during this conclave in choosing the new holy father,” Martinelli added.
For Bacarra, the question the Conclave must ask should not be who is theologically safest. “They must ask who dares to continue walking toward the wounded, toward the downtrodden – like Pope Francis did.
Will the next pope be someone who listens instead of lectures? Is he someone who believes that leadership is not about grandeur, but grace? Just as Pope Francis believed.”
