He shortened his State visit to Madagascar to arrive in time in Rome. He struggled to contain his emotions in front of the mortal remains of Francis, whom he came to consider as an "intellectual ally". Supported at all times by his wife, Brigitte, dressed in strict mourning, Emmanuel Macron proved to be the most "papal" of world leaders in successive meetings with French cardinals and with an effusive embrace to a Roman cardinal, Matteo Zuppi, one of the top contenders for succession.
The prolonged exchange of pats, smiles, and gestures of complicity between Macron and Zuppi has sparked much discussion in the French and Italian press. It seems that the Élysée tenant already has a clear favorite, and with that sense of anticipation that helped him climb the ranks in politics, he has taken advantage of his trip to Rome to weave future alliances with the Vatican.
A two-minute video bears witness to the meeting at St. Peter's Basilica, in which Macron took the liberty of placing his hand on Zuppi's shoulder and whispering something in his ear, to which the cardinal reacted with a broad smile and an ostensible swaying of his crucifix.
Macron's familiarity in the intricacies of the Vatican and in the antechamber of the conclave has sparked a debate about the supposed "secularism" of the head of state and has provoked criticism from both the left and the right. "La Tribune Chrétienne, a media close to traditionalist Catholicism, wonders if the French president has used his trip to lobby against conservative candidates like the Hungarian Péter Erdö or the Guinean Robert Sarah, who aspires to be the first African Pope.
During his stay in Rome, which lasted much longer than that of almost all leaders, Macron also met for lunch with the French cardinals. Among them, the Archbishop of Marseille Jean-Marc Aveline (who according to Le Figaro would be his favorite among his compatriots), the Bishop of Ajaccio François Bustillo, and the Apostolic Nuncio in the United States, Christophe Pierre.
However, he was not as effusive with any of them as with the papabile Matteo Zuppi, aligned with Francis in the progressive wing, with the same inclination towards the poor and marginalized that distinguished him during his long decade as a parish priest at the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere. Born in Rome in 1955, Zuppi was appointed cardinal by Francis in 2019 and has been the president of the Italian Episcopal Conference since 2022.
In addition to his pastoral work, his role as a theologian and diplomat is noteworthy. In the 1990s, he mediated in the negotiations between the Government of Mozambique and the Mozambican National Resistance Party, the architect of the Rome Peace Accords that ended the civil war in the African country.
Due to his experience and negotiating skills, Francis appointed Cardinal Zuppi to lead an emerging peace mission in Ukraine in 2023. The cardinal repeatedly visited Kiev and Moscow, met with President Zelensky, and interviewed Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church and close to Putin.
In parallel to his official duties, Zuppi has maintained a very close bond for years with the Community of Sant'Egidio, known as "the UN of Trastevere," present in more than 70 countries and with a special role in Francis's funeral, where several members participated in the procession of the last who carried Francis's remains on foot to the entrance of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, where he was finally buried.
Interestingly, Macron and Zuppi also have a connection through Sant'Egidio. The French president personally intervened in the last international meeting of the Community, held in Paris, under the theme Imagining Peace. "There are too many people on the planet who copy and too few who create," Macron said. "Forms of nationalism associated with identity are somehow a copy of something. Faced with the scenarios of the present, in all latitudes, we have a great need for imagination."