1 in 4 priests picked as bishops by the pope are refusing, says Cardinal Mario Grech.

Maltese Cardinal Mario Grech has expressed relief at not being elected pope, revealing he “returned home a free man” after this month’s conclave.

In his first in-depth interview since the election of Pope Leo XIV, Grech dismissed the assumption that cardinals aspire to the papacy, calling it a misunderstanding of the role’s immense burdens.

“Several people would tell me they’re praying for me, and I would say, ‘continue praying, but according to my intention, not yours’,” he said with a laugh. Reflecting on the enormity of the papal office, he added: “The man who’ll become pope is risking losing sleep at night. In order to want that, you must either be a martyr – and I don’t feel I’m one – or crazy.”

Grech noted that reluctance towards leadership is spreading across the Church. “One in every four priests chosen by the pope to be bishops are refusing,” he revealed. “They don’t want it because the burdens of authority in the Church are truly immense.”

As a member of the Dicastery for Bishops, Grech sees the process up close. The group reviews candidates for vacant bishoprics and submits recommendations to the pope. “Yet it’s increasingly common for the chosen candidate to decline,” he said.

He believes the pomp often associated with Church leadership distorts the reality of the roles. “I felt most authentically a bishop not amidst ceremony or crowds, but in a quiet hospital room,” he recalled, recounting a moving visit to a dying man.

Grech said he approached the conclave with the biblical question in mind: “Are they willing to drink from the chalice I will drink from?”

The conclave, held after the death of Pope Francis, saw 133 cardinals gather under the Sistine Chapel. After two days and four ballots, white smoke signalled the election of American Cardinal Robert Prevost as Pope Leo XIV on 8 May.

Grech also spoke of his conversations with Prevost and the challenges facing the Church, which he believes the new pope must face head-on.

Courtesy: Times of Malta