← The Roman Catholic Church: the dossier
Robert Prevost of Chicago, the first American pope ; he took Leo's name to face the age of AI as Leo XIII faced the industrial age. Everything in this deck answers, in the end, to him. Reigning · verified 07-23
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The Holy See's prime minister since 2013, kept on by Leo; he runs the whole machinery of Church government and diplomacy. Long the most powerful cardinal after the pope.
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Re-elected dean in 2025, he convened and presided over the conclave that elected Leo , and remains first among the cardinals when the See falls vacant. ⚠︎ Re-checked 2026-10-08: Re (age 92) is still Dean per gcatholic (updated 2026-10-07), but the card is inaccurate (not a new event): his term was extended by Francis (announced 2025-02-06), not re-elected, and being over 80 he did not preside inside the 2025 conclave; Parolin did. Re led the pre-conclave congregations and the Pro Eligendo Mass.
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The chamberlain who governs the Church between popes ; he ran the interregnum after Francis died in 2025. Also prefect for Laity, Family and Life.
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The Holy See's foreign minister , steering Vatican diplomacy through the world's wars and treaties since 2014.
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Leo's papal chief of staff , the hinge through which the Church's internal affairs pass up to the pope. Named to the post under Leo. New under Leo · verified 07-23
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Governs the pope's own diocese of Rome day to day, and is archpriest of St John Lateran — one of the youngest men in the Church's front rank (b. 1970).
Re-checked 2026-10-08 · holdsThe field file →Since March 2025 she runs the physical Vatican — offices, museums, police, budget — the first woman ever to govern the state . First woman · verified 07-23
Re-checked 2026-10-08 · holdsThe field file →Keeper of the synodal process Francis launched and Leo continues; he sets how the world's bishops deliberate together.
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The chief drafter and floor-leader of the Synod on Synodality from 2021; by 2026 the press calls him its former relator. In March 2026 he said the Church cannot survive without women's ordination . Corrected 07-26
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Leo named him in 2025 to lead the Church's safeguarding commission — the office charged with the abuse crisis that shadows everything else here. New under Leo · verified 07-23
Re-checked 2026-10-08 · holdsThe field file →The pope's own hand of charity to the poor of Rome; he took the almonry on 12 March 2026 when Krajewski was sent home to Łódź. An Augustinian who shared a Rome house with the future Leo XIV . Corrected 07-26 · now Abp
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The one man permitted to preach to the pope and Curia; the Capuchin who succeeded Cantalamessa in 2024.
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Guardian of Catholic teaching and the pope's closest doctrinal ally; his dicastery vets what the Church may and may not say . Author of the contested 2023 blessings text.
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Leo's 2025 pick to run the office that vets and proposes every new bishop in the Latin Church — the very post Leo himself held before his election. New under Leo · verified 07-23 ⚠︎ Re-checked 2026-10-08: Office holds (named 2025-09-26, effective 2025-10-15), but card error: Iannone is an archbishop, not a cardinal; he is absent from gcatholic's living-cardinals list (updated 2026-10-07) and Wikipedia lists no creation. the post Leo held (Prevost headed Bishops from January 2023): https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-09/pope-names-archbishop-iannone-as-prefect-of-bishops.html.
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The Filipino "Asian Francis" oversees the mission churches of the global south ; himself widely tipped as papabile in the 2025 conclave.
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Runs Rome's bond with the 23 Eastern Catholic churches , from Ukraine to the Middle East — a diplomat's brief in a time of war.
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The Englishman who governs the Church's liturgy and enforced the restrictions on the old Latin Mass. Custodian of how Catholics pray.
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The Korean cardinal responsible for the formation, discipline and life of every Catholic priest in the world.
Re-checked 2026-10-08 · holdsThe Consolata missionary who in 2025 became the first woman ever to lead a Vatican dicastery , governing the world's religious orders. First woman prefect · verified 07-23
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The prefect who steers every beatification and canonization — the office that decides whom the Church will call a saint .
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Rome's point man for ecumenism , carrying the talks with the Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant churches since 2010.
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The poet-cardinal over the Church's universities, schools and dialogue with the arts and sciences .
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The Jesuit who carries the Church's work on migrants, the poor, peace and the environment — the social conscience of the Curia. Turns 80 on 18 July 2026 and retires; Pope Leo XIV named Sr Alessandra Smerilli (Secretary of the Dicastery since 2021) as successor, effective 1 September 2026. Updated 08-16 — successor named, transition pending ⚠︎ Re-checked 2026-10-08: Transition completed 2026-09-01: Czerny (b. 1946-07-18, age 80) is now Prefect Emeritus; Sr Alessandra Smerilli is Prefect, Cardinal Fabio Baggio Pro-Prefect, Mons. Jozef Barlaš Secretary (announced 2026-06-30). Jesuit; b. 1946-07-18 (turned 80 on 2026-07-18): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Czerny.
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The Indian cardinal, once organizer of the pope's foreign trips, now leads Rome's engagement with Islam, Judaism and the world's faiths (since 2025). New 2025 · verified 07-23
Re-checked 2026-10-08 · holdsNamed by Leo in 2026 to run the Vatican's entire media operation — the first laywoman ever to be prefect of a dicastery. First laywoman · new 2026 · verified 07-23
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President of the Italian bishops and the pope's roving peace envoy to Kyiv, Moscow and Washington; one of the most influential churchmen in Europe.
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Shepherd of the Catholics of the Holy Land through the Gaza war; he offered himself for the hostages and walked 500 tons of aid into Gaza in 2025.
Re-checked 2026-10-08 · holdsLeader of the Church in Congo and president of SECAM , the voice of all Africa's bishops — the continent that is Catholicism's future.
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President of the French bishops and apostle of Mediterranean dialogue ; a bridge between Europe and the migrant south.
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A leading progressive voice in the American hierarchy and long a key papal ally in the United States.
Re-checked 2026-10-08 · holdsArchitect of the German " Synodal Way " and a voice for reform; long a member of the pope's council for the economy.
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A Jesuit prized as the bridge between Rome and Beijing ; his visits to the mainland are watched as barometers of the China–Vatican deal.
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Myanmar's first cardinal and head of the Asian bishops (FABC) ; a fearless voice for the poor under a military regime. ⚠︎ Re-checked 2026-10-08: Bo is no longer head of FABC: his final term ended in December 2024 and Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão of Goa succeeded him from 2025-01-01. Still Abp of Yangon per gcatholic (2026-10-07). Myanmar's first cardinal (2015-02-14): https://www.ncregister.com/news/meet-myanmar-s-first-cardinal-charles-bo.
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Shepherd of one of the largest Catholic cities on earth , in Asia's great Catholic nation.
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Sri Lanka's cardinal, who became the national conscience demanding justice after the 2019 Easter bombings.
Re-checked 2026-10-08 · holdsPromoted to the U.S. capital in 2025 ; a cardinal who carries the Church's voice into the halls of American power. New 2025 · verified 07-23
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Named by Leo in December 2025 to America's most prominent see, succeeding the retiring Cardinal Dolan. New 2025 · verified 07-23
Re-checked 2026-10-08 · holdsAppointed in December 2025 to lead the Catholics of England and Wales, following the retiring Cardinal Nichols. New 2025 · verified 07-23
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The " Black Pope ," head of the Society of Jesus — the largest and most influential religious order, and the one that gave the Church Francis.
Re-checked 2026-10-08 · holdsSuccessor of St Francis at the head of the Friars Minor , the great order of poverty and the missions.
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The first Asian to lead the Order of Preachers , the Church's teaching order of Aquinas.
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The former Rector Major of the Salesians , now a cardinal helping govern the world's religious orders and papal legate for Assisi.
Re-checked 2026-10-08 · holdsElected in 2025 to lead Don Bosco's order , one of the largest in the Church, devoted to the young and to education. New 2025 · verified 07-23
Re-checked 2026-10-08 · holdsThe moderator of the world's Benedictine monasteries , keepers of the Rule that built Western monasticism. Since 2024 · verified 07-23
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Former Master of the Dominicans and, made cardinal in 2024, the retreat-master and spiritual voice of the synod process.
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America's most-watched Catholic evangelist; his media apostolate reaches millions and speaks for the Church in the digital public square.
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The Guinean cardinal who is the elder standard-bearer of the Church's traditional and conservative wing, still widely read and heard.
Re-checked 2026-10-08 · holdsThe field file →Once guardian of doctrine, now the most prominent conservative critic of the reforms, and a check on the Curia from within the College.
Re-checked 2026-10-08 · holdsThe lay author of the definitive life of John Paul II and one of the most influential Catholic public intellectuals in America.
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The priest whose podcasts topped the global charts and carried Scripture and catechism to millions — mass evangelization by earbud.
Re-checked 2026-10-08 · holdsThe Jesuit editor and author who is the Church's most visible voice for LGBT ministry , received in private audience by Leo in 2025.
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