Cardinal Pietro Parolin had served as Pope Francis ’ secretary of state—a.k.a. his second in command—since 2014.

There was no white smoke of consensus about the next papal choice among the large language models (LLMs), but it mostly came down to a two-way race for frontrunner between Italy’s Pietro Parolin ...

Cardinal Pietro Parolin delivers his blessing to the faithful after leading a prayer for Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, on Feb. 24, 2025.

This conclave is one of the most unpredictable for decades. Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who was Pope Francis’s dutiful No. 2 at the Vatican, would be the obvious successor.

It offered a list of papabile — frequently mentioned candidates — including Pietro Parolin, Luis Antonio Tagle, Peter Turkson, Jean-Marc Aveline and Matteo Zuppi.

ChatGPT has predicted the name of the next Pope to occupy the Papal seat at the Vatican City after the death of Pope Francis who passed away on April 12.

The frontrunner: Pietro Parolin There was no white smoke of consensus about the next papal choice among the large language models (LLMs), but it mostly came down to a two-way race for frontrunner ...

Cardinal Pietro Parolin: A Diplomat Cardinal Pietro Parolin delivers his blessing to the faithful after leading a prayer for Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, on Feb. 24, 2025.