The cardinals who have traveled to Rome to elect the next pope at a conclave this week sometimes look as ideologically polarized as many secular voters around the globe.

At first glance, they appear to split along the kinds of left-right lines that characterize political contests elsewhere. Many conservative Roman Catholic Church leaders disagreed with Pope Francis, who was often a darling of liberals around the world.

But the typical divisions between progressives and conservatives don’t correspond so neatly with the ideological battles within the Vatican and the broader church. Although there are some exceptions among the cardinals, the issue that most consistently marked Francis as a liberal — his fierce advocacy on behalf of migrants and the poor — does not necessarily set him apart, because the Catholic Church has made the Gospels’ call to shelter and feed strangers a fundamental tenet.

Ultimately, the cardinals’ choice will amount to a referendum on whether to extend Francis’ legacy of inclusivity and openness to change. That was “how he made sense of living in a highly polarized age,” said Anna Rowlands, a political theologian at Durham University in England.

Francis understood “what’s at stake in the polarization,” said Rowlands, and was willing to accept disagreement as a precursor to dialogue.

More than any single issue, the choice of the next pontiff will be dominated by a philosophical question: Who deserves a say in determining the Catholic Church’s future?

making a Decision

Francis often argued that regular practicing Catholics — including women and LGBTQ+ people — should be consulted about the direction of the church. He invited laypeople to sit with bishops to discuss controversial issues in Vatican meetings called synods.

He was opposed by conservative leaders, who may be keen to return to centralized decision-making. “I think the conversation will have to go along the lines of ‘Can we get away with doing away with it?’” said Miriam Duignan, executive director of the Wijngaards Institute for Catholic Research in Cambridge, England.

Another key split is between those who believe the church should welcome everyone — including those whose lives don’t match traditional church teachings — and those who think that only those committed to unwavering Catholic doctrine should be admitted into the church’s fold.

“It’s that big-tent vision of the church that is sometimes the source of tension and apprehension,” said the Rev. Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator, dean of the Jesuit School of Theology at Santa Clara University.

Women in the Church

Two years ago, Francis for the first time allowed women to vote at a significant meeting of bishops.

Last year, he punted on a decision about whether women could be ordained as deacons, clergy members who can preach and preside over weddings, funerals and baptisms.

Francis was clear that he wanted women to be permitted more options than “altar girls or the president of a charity” but resisted the notion that they needed to participate in the church hierarchy.

In many places with priest shortages, women increasingly do the work of ministering to congregants.