A FORMER assistant priest at a Barnsley church will be among the College of Cardinals who will select the new pope.
Cardinal Arthur Roche, who was born in Batley Carr, West Yorkshire, was at Holy Rood for a three-year period during the 1970s.
The 75-year-old has had a long and distinguished career and became a trusted advisor to Pope Francis.
In a previous interview, Cardinal Roche said: “I was appointed to the mining town of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, which was a wonderful experience.
“The people there were good and hard-working, most of the men working down the pit.”
He has been in Rome for more than a decade and is presently the prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
He was elevated to the College of Cardinals by Pope Francis in 2022 and as he is under the age of 80 he will cast a vote for the new pope once the Conclave meets in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican on Wednesday.
Several rounds of voting are expected to take place before a clear favourite, with two-thirds majority, is established.
The candidate will then be asked if he accepts the responsibility and what name he would like to be known as.
Pope Francis was swiftly chosen after just five rounds of voting.
The next pontiff will be the 267th and the current favourites are Italian Pietro Parolin, Luis Antonio Tagle from the Phillipines and Ghana’s Peter Turkson.
The only English Pope was Adrian IV who served for five years in the 12th century.
