A 92-year-old Nigerian, Cardinal Francis Arinze, is likely to succeed Pope Francis as the head of the Roman Catholic Church.

This is as a result of the death of Pope Francis which happened on Monday at the age of 88.

The death leaves a vacuum on the Vatican waiting to be filled through a period of voting

Cardinal Arinze happens to be one of the cardinals to participate in the election as a candidate and as a voter.

According to the Onitsha diocese, when Cardinal Arinze was called to work for the universal Church in the Vatican, it came as a great shock to the People of God in the Archdiocese. He was a real pastor, a real shepherd, in the Archdiocese of Onitsha for 17 years. People did not think it would come to an end in this way. Yet everybody had agreed that the Pope had made a good choice. As much as the people wanted him to be in Onitsha, so much did they want him to accept the special responsibility for the universal Church.

It was a situation of “mixed feelings” as was frequently voiced out by many at that time. Eventually, the People of God decided not only to accept this as divine providence but also to share with him all hopes and anxieties associated with this appointment. As an outward demonstration of this solidarity, they organized a pilgrimage to Rome to correspond to the time of his taking up the appointment. They prayed with him in Rome, and symbolically handed him over to God, Our Lady, and the Church for the new form of apostolate. A similar pilgrimage was organized to correspond with the consistory in which he was created Cardinal in 1985.

There in the Vatican City, Cardinal Arinze remained every inch himself – simple, hardworking, prayerful, humorous, methodical and precise. He had always loved to pray together with his household. He still keeps to that in the Vatican City where he lives with a priest who is his secretary, and two Brothers of St. Stephen who keep the house and at the same time do some studies. He works as much in the office, as he does at home, but he will not miss his lawn tennis game, at least, once a week.

ASA