Swedish cardinal 'stupefied,' annoyed by papabile speculation

(OSV News) -- Back in 2017, Pope Francis made a surprise announcement that he would elevate five bishops to the cardinalate, including the bishop of Stockholm, a first for Sweden and Scandinavia.

With Catholics accounting for roughly 1.5% of the Swedish population, the pope made clear his desire to highlight his closeness to the Catholic Church in the periphery.

And since his elevation, Swedish Cardinal Anders Arborelius, a Carmelite, has often been lauded for his level-headedness and is liked by both conservatives and progressives in his country.

However, he found himself in an uncomfortable position in April when the French newspaper Le Figaro released its list of papabile, possible successors to the papacy.

According to the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, the French article stated that the cardinal is "first and foremost a man of prayer but also a noted theologian, committed to ecumenism."

The article went on to say that his experience in leading the church in "a highly secularized country where Catholicism is in the minority" is an advantage.

"This cardinal, who is not yet very well known, also enjoys a clear charisma, which is something indispensable for a pope," Le Figaro stated, according to Aftonbladet.

Yet, no one was more stunned by his inclusion than the cardinal himself, who was confused as to how a French newspaper included him "because I have nothing to do" with them.

"I was very stupefied, and of course, it's always a bit annoying when they start" speculating, Cardinal Arborelius told OSV News Sept. 6 via video call. "Here in Sweden, people always love (saying), 'Oh, you're the next pope.' So it's a bit annoying but I tried to calm them down in a sense because it's part of the business that people speculate about that."

At the time that the Swedish press got wind of the report, Agnes Eggertz, the cardinal's assistant, gave a brief, yet direct response to the report. "There is nothing to comment on; the pope is alive," Eggertz told the Swedish news site SVT Nyheter.

Yet, for Cardinal Arborelius, while such theories are part and parcel with the job, he also felt there was "a lack of respect" to speculate on who will be the next pope when the current pope is still very much alive.

Furthermore, with the Catholic Church "becoming less European," he thought "the more natural thing was to think of someone from Africa or Asia."

There is "a dramatic change in the church," the cardinal told OSV News. "There are so many priests from overseas. Of course, in Sweden, it's normal because we are a country of immigrants."

"Europe has become very old and tired; also the church," he added. "So, it would be more natural to think about someone from that part of the world."

Cardinal Arborelius, who was named Bishop of Stockholm by St. John Paul II in 1998, celebrated his 25th anniversary as head of the diocese.

Much has changed in Sweden over the more than two decades he has led the church; the number of Catholics has and continues to grow due in large part to the influx of migrants in the country in 2015.

There are an estimated 100,000 Chaldean Catholics from Iraq and Syria in Europe, an estimated 30,000 of whom live in Sweden, making it the largest Chaldean community on the continent.

Cardinal Arborelius said the Diocese of Stockholm purchased three former Lutheran churches that were closed down and will be inaugurated as Catholic churches soon, including "one for the Chaldeans in Norrköping," located almost 100 miles southwest of Stockholm.

The office of Bishop Saad Sirop Hanna, the apostolic visitor for Chaldean Catholics in Europe, is in the northern Swedish city of Södertälje.

The Diocese of Stockholm is among the most diverse in Europe, with local missions that organize Masses and activities in various languages, including English, French, Spanish, Korean, Italian, and Vietnamese.

"Our Catholic situation is all so mixed that we have to show the unity of our people from all over the world," Cardinal Arborelius told OSV News. "I think we try of course, in our parishes in so many ways, to speak with one voice, we try to build bridges with all the groups we have."

He also said that a "very big issue" for him is that there is "so much to do to bring people together" because most Catholics who have come to Sweden from different countries tend to "keep to their group, to their language, to their tradition."

"Swedish society tends to be very segregated between Swedes and immigrants and if we also are segregated between ourselves, it's not a good sign," Cardinal Arborelius said. "We need to show that we are one in Christ as Catholics in Sweden and that we care about each other, that we respect each other, that we learn from each other."

"I think that this is what we could call an 'interior Catholic ecumenism.'"

As mandated by the church, Cardinal Arborelius will hand in his resignation as Bishop of Stockholm when he turns 75 this Sept. 24.

The cardinal told OSV News that he is unsure when his resignation will be accepted and that he will likely have to continue on for a time, as there is much going on in Scandinavia, including vacancies in the Dioceses of Oslo and Tromsø in Norway.

"I was only told that, 'For the moment, you have to continue,'" he said. "And of course now, (...) I can understand that they need to secure those two dioceses."

Nevertheless, as a Discalced Carmelite, Cardinal Arborelius said that once his resignation is accepted by Pope Francis, he "would like to return to my community, close to Malmö."

"It's always been my desire. And they have to accept me of course," he told OSV News with a chuckle. "They are not obliged to accept a bishop who may be a nuisance, perhaps."

While he may at times give the occasional retreat or talks about spiritual life, Cardinal Arborelius said his hope is that he can "return to contemplative life" and a life of prayer.

"You never know how your health will be and (how) your life will be," he said. "But, I hope within a certain future to be able to return to the monastery."

While bishops can retire from their diocese at 75 years old, cardinals can participate in the conclave as electors until they're 80. Pope Francis was elected when he was 76.