Cardinal Arborelius: Evangelization ‘all-encompassing’ priority for next pope

"I’m an outsider in many regards. I’m Northern European, which is a periphery of the Church, I’m a Carmelite, and I’m a convert."

Cardinal Anders Arborelius is, in many respects, an outlier in the College of Cardinals.

He’s one of the chief examples of the kind of periphery cardinal Pope Francis appointed in nearly every consistory: The first Swedish cardinal in history, one of the few cardinals who is originally a convert in modern history, and only the sixth Carmelite cardinal in history.

Cardinal Anders Arborelius in 2023. Credit: JD Flynn/Pillar Media.

The first Swede to become a bishop since the Reformation, Arborelius was born in 1948 and converted to Catholicism when he was 20-years-old. Two years after his conversion in 1971, he entered the Discalced Carmelites inspired by his reading Story of a Soul of Saint Therese of Lisieux.

He was ordained a priest in 1979. Saint John Paul II appointed him as the Bishop of Stockholm in 1998, and Pope Francis created him cardinal in 2017.

Widely regarded as doctrinally orthodox, Arborelius has also made a name for himself in the world of ecumenism and in the defense of migrants.

Arborelius talked with The Pillar about the legacy of Pope Francis, the spiritual side of the conclave, and the priorities of the new pope.

The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What do you see as the greatest legacy of Pope Francis?

I think that all the world has seen the mercy of Jesus in Pope Francis’ words and in actions. Even in our secular country, he has somehow opened up the eyes and hearts for people for the Church.

Sweden used to be a very anti-Catholic country, people that didn't know much about the Catholic Church, but they were against it. But it has changed. I was surprised to see that Sweden sent such a big delegation to the pope’s funeral. The King and Queen, the prime minister and first lady, the Lutheran primate, and they even allowed me to come [to Rome] on the state plane.

This started with John Paul II, but I think Francis’ personality helped them realize that the Catholic Church is not as “dangerous” as they thought.

So, I think a great legacy of his was supporting peace and inter-religious dialogue, and standing in defense of the poor and refugees.

The last time I saw the pope was in early February, when he had an audience with the pilgrims from Nordic countries. He looked frankly exhausted, but when he met people he somehow looked very enlivened. He had prepared a speech, but as usual, he put it aside. He thanked Sweden for receiving so many Latin American refugees.

I didn’t want to disappoint him and tell him that the doors of Sweden are now closed [with regard to many types of migration].

But this was very typical of him as he has always shown a lot of gratitude for Sweden for being a country open to migrants.

A week before that, I had seen [the pope] because the Diocese of Stockholm had acquired one of the biggest Lutheran churches in town, thanks to the Lutheran pastor of this church, who’s a female pastor.

She was invited to Rome so she could greet the pope in Santa Marta while he was having dinner, which was a very important thing for her.

So those are the last few memories I could share with the pope.

But they are very important because no one listened to his voice in favor of migrants in more recent times, and his ecumenical outreach was so important, his personality helped us come a lot closer to Lutherans, Pentecostals, and other groups of Christians in Sweden, which is the way we will remember him in our country.

You just mentioned ecumenism and his defense of migrants as two of his greatest legacies, and you’ve also been a big defender of these two issues so close to Pope Francis’ heart.

But these issues are a bit controversial in certain Catholic circles. How do you think the future pope should address these issues?

In certain Catholic countries, they are afraid of migrants, and in the United States it seems that around a fifth of the Catholic population could be at risk of being sent away.

Things can change but we’re seeing a kind of nationalistic revival in the West, including in Sweden, when some have this desire of sending immigrants away and there’s even been murders of immigrants. I’ve spoken with some African immigrants who are afraid and don’t feel welcome in the future.

Europe cannot survive without immigrants, there are no children anymore. There are no Swedes working in elderly care, almost all of the staff are migrants. We must realize that we live in a global reality and we cannot survive without migrants.

You will be a Catholic convert in the conclave, which is not a very common experience among cardinals. How does this shape your understanding of the see of Peter?

I’m an outsider in many regards. I’m Northern European, which is a periphery of the Church, I’m a Carmelite, and I’m a convert.

But people are very friendly and interested in many ways, so I’m surprised that so many show an interest in our situation in Sweden. In many countries the Church is becoming smaller and smaller, so they’re moving towards a similar reality.

And it's also evident that in many big cities in Europe, the migrants are the ones coming to church. I’ve noticed this when I travel in France and Germany, for example, and it’s also the experience in many parts of the United States.

And the Church is also turning into a church of converts, as is the case in Sweden. You’re seeing this trend in France and England, just to name two examples.

So being a convert is becoming more normal, you see more people turning to the Church and becoming interested in the spiritual life as adults.

So, somehow it doesn’t feel so strange anymore to be a convert, to be a Carmelite, and to be from Northern Europe.

You've said before that you're tired of discussions about the conclave in very mundane terms. So I wanted to know about your spiritual discipline during this time.

So many people are aware of the importance of electing a new pope. I’ve heard so many people say that they’re praying for us and my brothers in the conclave.

So, my impression is that for a lot of people this is a spiritual experience, and we all feel the need of the light of the Holy Spirit, because we don’t know what will happen, it’s not evident.

And we know this is a very important moment in the history of the Church, and we live in a world where the Gospel is so much needed to bring the new evangelization to the old world.

So, we see this spiritual development in Africa and Asia, and perhaps it’s time to find a pope from those parts of the world where the church is growing dynamically. But there are also many challenges there. There is persecution, there is violence, there are conflicts. So, you really feel the need for spiritual renewal and the guidance of the Holy Spirit for the future of the Church.

Have you sensed the presence of Our Lady amid these discussions in the pre-conclave?

Of course, we feel the need of Our Lady and her intercession, and we also pray to her for guidance. But she's, I would say, more hidden. But we feel that her intercession is very much needed in order to go further.

There’s been a lot of talk about the priorities of the next pope, whether he should focus on reform, governance, evangelization, synodality, unity, or something else.

So what should be the priorities of the future pope?

I think that evangelization is a key issue, and much needed around the world, and especially in Europe, where the Church is going into a new situation in which it must find the way to bring the Gospel to a secular and materialistic surrounding.

In our part of the world, this is the main issue. But I suppose this is also the case in Asia, where Christians are so few, and in Africa, where we have seen the fruits of evangelization in Africa, I would say. But they have other issues too, such as how can the Gospel help us in the dialogue with local culture, and with Islam, and so forth. So if I could choose one word, one topic, I would say it’s evangelization because it is an all-encompassing reality.

What should shine spiritually in the next pope?

That we can see the vicar of Christ. The mystery of Jesus has to be evident in his personality. If you look upon the three last popes, they were very different in between themselves, but they all had the possibility to show us some aspects of Jesus.

We need a pope that doesn't speak about himself, but about Jesus and helps the people of God to come closer to our Lord.

So an alter Christus.

Yes. The pope has to remind us of Jesus and the Gospel through his personality, through his words, through his gestures.

All of our last three popes were able to transmit the Gospel and the voice of Jesus in different situations thanks to the Holy Spirit.

But that sounds like a very difficult task.

[Laughs]

Of course it is. On the human level, it's nearly impossible. But we believe that the Holy Spirit is guiding the Church through ordinary persons, and that the pope is not alone. He is part of the episcopal college.

In a global world with social media, the personality of the pope seems to have become even more important, some would say, perhaps a bit too important.

So the real issue at stake is that, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we find a person who can transmit the gospel and the voice of Jesus to the world of today.