Four frontrunners have emerged as the most likely contenders known as papabile to succeed Pope Francis but at least a dozen others are in strong contention

As cardinals from Myanmar to Malta ready themselves for the largest papal conclave in history, battle lines are being drawn over the direction of the Catholic Church. Pope Francis sought to drag the church out of the bedroom,

The personality and outreach of Pope Francis attracted worldwide admiration. Though he did not stray from Catholic doctrine, he connected those teachings to issues such as immigration and climate change.

Trump recently joked he would like to be the pope as the Vatican prepares to vote for the next pontiff following Pope Francis’ death last month.

Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, late on Friday, May 2, to share an image of himself in the traditional papal clothing. The official White House social media account later reposted the image on X. The image garnered a mixed response, with one critic saying it was " rather offensive for Catholics."

Trump posted an image depicting himself as the pope, with the Vatican's conclave to select the next leader of the Catholic Church to begin May 7.