Cardinal Mario Grech comes from Malta, but is known to cardinals around the world for his role as the secretary general of an advisory body of bishops.
Only about half a million people live in Malta, the tiny set of islands in the Mediterranean that make up one of Europe’s smallest countries.
Yet a Maltese citizen could soon be elected pope.
Cardinal Mario Grech, 68, the former bishop of a Maltese island, Gozo, has emerged as a candidate for pope because of his role as secretary general of the Synod of Bishops, a Vatican body mandated by canon law to consider “questions pertaining to the activity of the Church in the world.”
Pope Francis made the most recent synod much more inclusive and participatory, and Cardinal Grech’s role in stewarding these efforts to open up the church stand in contrast to some of his own history. While he was bishop of Gozo, from 2005 to 2020, he held conservative stances on several issues, including homosexuality and the legalization of divorce, which he opposed when Malta held a referendum in 2011.
He changed his tone under Francis, who made him a cardinal in 2020, and is seen as someone who would bring continuity to the papacy.
The synod began in 2021 with discussions among local churches around the world on issues they felt most pressing, a rare opening for all Catholics to help chart the church’s future.
