Half of Asian Cardinal Electors are Indians

March 11, 2013 - As the world’s 115 cardinal electors lock themselves in, Tuesday evening, to vote for a new Pope, Asia will be represented by 10 cardinals, five of them from India. The Indian cardinals Oswald Gracias, George Alencherry, Telesphore Toppo, Ivan Dias and Baselios Mar Cleemis, come from an overwhelmingly Hindu nation where Catholics are also outnumbered by Muslims and Sikhs. Only Italy, the United States of America and Germany will be represented by more cardinal electors when they meet in Vatican City. But with around 17 million practicing Catholics, India is home to the Church’s second largest community in Asia after the Philippines. Like elsewhere on the continent, Indian Catholics would love to see an Asian take over from Benedict XVI, with Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila being the name most often mentioned by the media and Vatican observers. Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay, however has expressed doubt to Catholic News Service that an Asian will be elected pope for the first time and insists that a candidate’s birthplace should not be a major factor. “We want a person who is most suitable for this assignment and most suitable for the very great responsibility, the one to whom the Holy Spirit guides us,” he added. A reader survey by the Union of Catholic Asian News found that sex abuse by the clergy and its handling by Church authorities is the top priority for the next pope, who will have to deal with a string of scandals. Other important issues raised included unifying the Church and offering a more pastoral response to divorcees.