This could change in the coming months.
Out of the 252 cardinals listed in [color=var(--flexi-secondary_color_4)]the report[/color], 137 of them are currently under the age of 80 and so eligible to participate in the [color=var(--flexi-secondary_color_4)]conclave[/color] — the papal election.
Who are the front-runners?
For many Catholic commentators, overt speculation on who the next pope might be while the current one is still alive is disrespectful. But following Francis' death, talks have been turbocharged on the potential papal candidates — known in Italian as the papabili. The front runners span a spectrum of backgrounds and ideological standpoints, so the conclave's eventual choice could well change the future direction of the Church.
But the unpredictability of the process, in which cardinals are sequestered for days of voting, means that all speculation is flawed, said [color=var(--flexi-secondary_color_4)]U.S. Catholic[/url]. They "do a lot of praying to the Holy Spirit, who is full of surprises".[/font][/size][/color]

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Italy: A "consummate Vatican diplomat", 70-year-old Italian cardinal Pietro Parolin served as Pope Francis' secretary of state and the current favourite to succeed him. He is known for brokering both the [color=var(--flexi-secondary_color_4)]US-Cuba thaw[/iurl], 10 years ago, and the 2018 Vatican-China agreement. Given current geopolitical volatility, the cardinal electors might well see the need for a diplomat, said U.S. Catholic. For 11 years he has survived Francis' "regular savage reshuffles", said Damian Thompson in [color=var(--flexi-secondary_color_4)]The Spectator[/color]. "He is regarded as a moderate who would be able to repair the damage caused by his boss's outbursts and vendettas."[/font][/size][/color]
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Philippines: Filipino cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, 67, has long been a leading papabili among Vatican watchers and bookmakers. He is "media-savvy, charismatic, and joyful" said U.S. Catholic. If elected, he would be the first Asian pope and the "first truly fluent English-speaking pope in history" (at least since Adrian IV, who was born in Hertfordshire and held the office in the 1150s). Cardinal Tagle is comfortable showing emotion and has a playful, folksy manner, said the [color=var(--flexi-secondary_color_4)]College of Cardinals Report[/url]. His left-leaning politics are similar to Pope Francis' relatively progressive views on social justice issues.[/font][/size][/color]

Cardinal Peter Turkson, Ghana: Multilingual biblical scholar Cardinal Peter Turkson, 76, has been described as charming and softly spoken and has long been considered a front runner. However, his relatively liberal views on ɧoɱosɛҳųαƖity, ecology and social justice put him at odds with some fellow cardinals as well as bishops in his own country of Ghana. While there is enthusiasm for electing a pope from Africa, where the Catholic population is growing, Cardinal Turkson is not generally seen as a unifying candidate.

Cardinal Péter Erdő, Hungary: An award-winning scholar and intellectual, Cardinal Péter Erdő, 72, is more conservative than the current pope and is seen as a potential "consensus choice", said U.S. Catholic. He was brought up under a communist regime — his family fled with just the clothes on their backs when invading Soviet troops burned down their house in 1956 — and he has since overseen his country's church while [color=var(--flexi-secondary_color_4)]Hungarian democracy slides into autocracy[/iurl], "a possibly applicable skillset these days".[/font][/size][/color]
Cardinal Mykola Bychok, Ukraine: The 45-year-old Eparch of Saints Peter and Paul of Melbourne was made a cardinal by Pope Francis last year. He has "spoken eloquently about the suffering of his fellow Ukrainians in the current war with Russia, and his Australian flock is largely composed of Greek Catholic refugees from the Balkan War and the conflict with Russia that broke out in 2014", said Daniel Gallagher, a former Latin Secretary to Popes Benedict XVI and Francis and now lecturer in literature and philosophy at the US' Ralston College, in [color=var(--flexi-secondary_color_4)]Crisis[/url] magazine. Is Bychock too young to occupy the throne of St Peter? "History says no," and Francis seemed to say the same.[/font][/size][/color]

My Magic 8-ball predicts the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Cardinal Pizzaballa, OFM who interestingly offered himself to Hamas in exchange for child hostages.

Did he offer himself to Israel in the hope of saving the children they're slaughtering?

No, these quasi- / pseudo- conservative types would do by far the most damage to the Church because most people might be fooled into considering them Traditional.

Let's put it this way ... given that Bergoglio appointed 108 of the 135 voting Cardinals, naturally speaking, there isn't a snowball's chance in Hell that anyone remotely conservative will be elected, unless it's part of some agenda or plan ... or else there was direct divine intervention like the prophetic vision of Anna Maria Taigi.

If they were to roll out a Sarah, for instance, the agenda would be to complete the absorption of the SSPX into the Conciliar Borg, and it would be accomplished withina  week, and Trad, Inc. would slingshot back into the Novus Ordo Entity so quickly that we'd get whiplash trying to follow it.  We could see a Sarah, oh, roll back some of Jorge's more egregious errors (sodomite blessings, Amoris Laetitia), reinstate the Motu (while repealing Traditionis Custodes), reinstate Strickland, sack a couple of extreme Leftists, and it would be mission accomplished in under a month.

Since Bergoglio helped shift the Overton window so far to the left that almost any half-conservative individual (like the guy depicted above) would be hailed as the next St. Pius X by comparison, as they frog-boil you with the techniques of Hegelian dialectic.

I'm actually surprised that you're duped by a little display of piety there, and some half-conservative lip service.

You beat me to it - I second this "prediction".

So, my predition would be one of two depending on an unknown factor ... how much time these enemy infiltrators feel they have left before a restoration of the Church and Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

If they have some time, they'll put in some conservative like ...

Sarah ... plus he's a "person of color" so that would also appease the liberals some.

They could play a bit of a long game there by using Sarah to finish reabsorbing SSPX, neutralizing Tradition, etc.

On the other hand, if they feel they have to continue pushing the final Bergoglian solution agenda as hard as possible, I suspect ...

Parolin (he's been auditioning and even Cardinal Zen implies he's one evil guy)

NOW ... if the recent movie "The Conclave" was predictive programming, I would consider as a dark horse candidate ...

Tagle ... who very much looks the part of the surprise election winner in the movie and who wouldn't surprise me if he/she were of that persuasion

Jorge was too much too fast for a reason.

Two steps forward one step back.

The new right is the old left.

The goal posts keep shifting.

Anyone who just backs off the TLM and "frees tradition" again, does another "consecration" of Russia to the IM and says a bunch of compassionate things will do.

Time to take this roiling boil back to medium/medium high. Lull the fence sitters back in, turn the flip floppers around, and silence the opposition a bit.

The show must go on, and on, and on...

Oh ya, and Tucho and Roche need to be sacrificed to appease the moderates. At least a few heads must roll. all new cabinet and reconsecrated altar at St. Peter's too boot!

The king is dead, long live the king, let's make the "church" great again.

Yeah, I don't disagree.  Jorge served the dialectic well, and their next selection might give that way.  If they roll out some quasi-conservative like Sarah, well, that just proves it, since compared to Jorge, just about anyone who isn't an open transgender sodomite infidel apostate will be hailed as the new St. Pius X.

If, however, Jorge was just putting the pedal to the metal because their time grows short, they'll roll out a radical like Zuppi or Parolin.

If they do feel they have a bit of time here, they'll roll out the conservative now.  That's what I'd do.  If they install Sarah, and Sarah reinstates the Motu, rehabilitiates Strickland, rolls back Jorge's trans "blessings" and Amoris Laetitia, etc. ... SSPX will be back in the Conciliar tent within a week, hailing this Triumph of the Church.  Trad, Inc, who had been on the fence, will snap back in so fast that we'd get whiplash watching them, like when you pull on a rubber band and then suddenly let go.  They'll then need 2-3 years to comletely finish them off, adulterating their Sacraments, installing even more Modernists than are already in there, etc.

We'll see.

Why is it "preferiti" now? What happened to "Papabili" which is the phrase I've seen used every time the subject came up, from 2005 to present?

(before that, you'd have to go back to 1979, because JP2 was Pope for a long, long time)

So, the enemies of the faith are still in control, so it's not a question of who will emerge from some kind of election process, but who they decided to install to carry foward their agenda for the destruction of the Church ... barring direct intervention by God.

If they roll out a Sarah (naturally speaking not possible due to the Leftist composition of the Cardinalate), it'll only be that they went to finish absorbing SSPX and re-assimilate the grifting "Trad, Inc." types who had started to slouch toward Traditionalistm and even sedevacantism.

Have the Jews already selected the next Antipope?