At a time when global superpowers are jockeying for position, a major piece on the chessboard of statecraft, Pope Francis, just left his square.

Now 1.4 billion Catholics in virtually every nation in the world are strenuously peering over the Vatican wall to see on which square the new pope will land. Given that 108 of the 135 Cardinals tasked with replacing him were appointed by Pope Francis himself, the late pope’s political philosophy and behaviors provide solid clues into the Church’s future and whether Pope Francis believed the next pope might be the last.

As an official nation whose capital city is the Vatican, the Catholic Church believes the Pope’s role is to represent St. Peter’s unbroken line as Christ’s representative on Earth, a priest, or connector, between God and man. Perhaps that is why the Pope is also referred to as pontiff, or bridgebuilder.

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