The holding of a papal conclave on May 7 could set the scene for a return to relevance — and maybe even glory — for some of the Cardinals banished into the wilderness by Pope Francis.

Pope Francis’s 12 year pontificate saw the Church pivot leftward from the conservative reigns of Popes John Paul II and Benedict VI. The first supreme pontiff from South America, who presented a pastoral face to the world, did not hesitate to impose his will on the cardinals, many of whom retained affection for the ancien régime, which lingered in the person of Pope Emeritus Benedict. 

Those prelates could, with the passing of the 266th pope, see the imminent conclave as the opportunity to author comeback stories, and maybe even chart a return to the upper echelons of the Church if they can swing the papacy in a sympathetic direction. That could be a challenge, though, as 80 percent of the cardinals who will elect the next pope were appointed by Pope Francis. 

One elector who will cast his ballot at the Sistine Chapel after a contentious relationship with Pope Francis is a Wisconsinite known as an arch-conservative, Raymond Cardinal Burke. He was called to Rome by Pope Benedict, who appointed him prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the Church’s highest court. Pope Francis, though, removed him from the Conference of Bishops, sacked him from that judicial post, and then stripped him of his rent free apartment and €5,000 monthly salary. 

Cardinal Burke supported President Trump in 2016, lauding him for “defending the values of the church.” The prelate was critical of Pope Francis, whom he accused of being lax in opposition to abortion and gay marriage. Cardinal Burke reflected during the last papacy that Pope Francis “doesn’t want me in any leadership position,” though he “never had the impression that he thinks I’m his enemy.” Cardinal Burke opposed offering the Eucharist to Secretary Kerry and President Biden.

An even more dramatic reversal could be in store for Giovanni Angelo Cardinal Becciu. He was convicted of fraud and embezzlement by the Vatican in a case that involved a London-based investment scheme. The Church lost millions of dollars in the transactions. He was also accused of bribing witnesses in a sexual abuse case against another prince of the Church, George Cardinal Pell. He was designated a “non-elector,” meaning that he cannot vote in this conclave.

Cardinal Becciu, though, is challenging that designation, telling an Italian paper that “there was no explicit will to exclude me from the conclave nor a request for my explicit renunciation in writing.” Pope Francis, though, in 2020 stripped him of the “rights and privileges” of his position, which once included the lofty title of “sostituto,” or “substitute,” a role akin to the papal chief of staff.

That role conferred immense prerogatives, including the right to walk in to see the Bishop of Rome at any time. Now, though, the decision about whether to allow Cardinal Becciu to cast a ballot will likely fall to the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Giovanni Battista Cardinal Re. 

Another cardinal who will vote on the next Pope after having fraught relations with the last one is Gerhard Ludwig Cardinal Müller, a German who served as Cardinal-Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under Pope Benedict XVI. The author of more than 500 publications, Cardinal Müller  was created a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2014, but then proved to be a thorn in the Supreme Pontiff’s side.

Cardinal Müller in 2023 wrote in the journal First Things that  “to teach contrary to the apostolic faith would automatically deprive the pope of his office,” widely seen as a warning to Pope Francis. The next month the staunch conservative reckoned that the 266th pope had “already uttered plenty of material heresies.”

Cardinals Burke, Becciu, and Müller are all younger than 80 years of age, meaning that they are all eligible to serve as the next successor to St. Peter.