As the Roman Catholic Church prepares for the 2025 papal conclave following the death of Pope Francis, a striking paradox has emerged: the first Latin American pope, who hailed from the world’s most Catholic continent, created more Asian cardinals than Latin American ones during his pontificate. 

A story run by Union of Catholic Asian (UCA) News, proudly highlights that "out of 135 cardinal electors 23 are from Asia followed by 21 from Central and South America."

"The Catholic-majority Philippines, home to 92 million Catholics, will have three cardinals in the conclave — the highest number the nation of 114 million people has ever sent," UCAN highlights.

The electors from the Philippines are Cardinals Luis Antonio Tagle, Jose Advincula and Pablo David Virgilio.

According to the Asian Catholic agency, "with the three Filipino cardinals, the number of cardinals from the Southeast Asian region has spiralled to nine, up from just two in the 2013 conclave — a Filipino and a Vietnamese. Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Timor Leste have one cardinal each in the conclave."  

"China (Hong Kong), Japan, and Korea will also send one cardinal each to this conclave, and the South Asians of Sri Lanka and Pakistan."

Out of the 133 confirmed voting cardinals, Asian cardinals form a visible 17 percent of them.

A Catholic heartland underrepresented?

Latin America remains the epicenter of global Catholicism. As of 2025, 41% of the world’s Catholics live in Central and South America, far surpassing any other region. Historically, however, the College of Cardinals has been dominated by Europeans, even as Catholic populations have shifted southward and eastward.

Despite Pope Francis’ Argentine roots and his vocal advocacy for the Global South, Latin America remains underrepresented among cardinal-electors. Only 17% of voting cardinals hail from Latin America and the Caribbean, a stark contrast to the region’s demographic weight. In fact, the share of Latin American cardinals eligible to vote is less than half the region’s share of the world’s Catholics.

In an effort to represent what he called “the peripheries,” Pope Francis dramatically increased Asian representation in the College of Cardinals. Asia is home to some of the fastest-growing Catholic communities, especially in the Philippines, India, Vietnam, and South Korea. The Church also faces unique challenges in Asia, including religious persecution and minority status in many countries, making the appointment of cardinals from these regions a gesture of solidarity and hope. Furthermore, the Vatican’s diplomatic priorities, especially its efforts to engage China and other Asian powers, have made Asian cardinals increasingly important on the global stage.

A symbolic shift with lingering discontent

Yet this vision has produced a paradox: The pope who symbolized Latin America’s arrival at the summit of Catholic power ultimately did very little, if anything, to elevate Latin America’s voice in the Church’s leadership.

This shift has not gone unnoticed. Some Latin American Catholics feel overlooked, given their region’s centrality to the faith, especially Argentinian Catholics, who never received a visit from the first Argentinian pope.