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New pope will likely move slowly to enact any change

30 April 2025 20:33 (UTC +04:00)

Unlike U.S. President Donald Trump, who has lost no opportunity to demolish his predecessor's policies, the new Catholic pontiff will not summarily slash and burn Pope Francis' legacy, even if he is a conservative, experts and Church officials say, APA reports citing Reuters.

"It's not like the U.S. government where the president comes in and replaces the entire cabinet," said Rev. Thomas Reese, commentator for Religion News Service and author of "Inside the Vatican", a benchmark book on the Church organisation.

"There is a built-in inertia of the institution."

The new pope will be elected at a conclave that starts next week, and will take immediate charge of the Vatican, one of the world's few remaining absolute monarchies.

But change comes slowly in the 2,000-year-old Church and, at least at first, will be more of style than substance.