New Zealand’s Cardinal John Dew remembers Pope Francis as humble, says he’s excited to help elect new leader

• Cardinal John Dew will attend Pope Francis’ funeral and participate in the conclave to elect a successor.
• Dew described Pope Francis as humble and politically astute, recalling his compassion after the Kaikōura Earthquake.
• He could not say who he would vote for to become the next Pope, but revealed he had a few names in mind, and was not personally interested in becoming Pope.

One of New Zealand’s top Catholics will today leave for Rome to attend Pope Francis’ funeral and take part in the Vatican’s secret process for choosing a successor.

Speaking to the media at Wellington’s Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Cardinal John Dew paid tribute to the Pope he knew as humble, open and politically astute.

“It seems that he had made up his mind that he would do all he could right till the very end, that was the kind of guy Pope Francis was,” Dew said.

New Zealand's Cardinal John Dew will travel to Rome for Pope Francis' funeral, before taking part in the conclave. Photo / Supplied

Of the Pope’s death, Dew said, “it was very obvious that he was fragile and very ill, but no one expected him to die within 24 hours on Easter Monday morning“.

The former Archbishop of Wellington, who was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2015, recalled an interaction he had with Francis when visiting the Vatican just days after the Kaikōura Earthquake in 2016. He was moved by the pontiff’s humanity when he asked about the people impacted by the quake.

“It will be an honour to be at Pope Francis’ funeral because he has, I believe, made a real mark on the world,” he said.

It was an “awesome privilege” to take part in the conclave to elect a new Pope, but Dew admitted he didn’t quite know what to expect.

As for who he will be voting to be the next pope, Dew said he wasn’t able to share names but revealed he did have some cardinals in mind.

“There are lots of names bandied about, I have a few people I would like to talk with others about.”

He said he would want the next pope to be “very much the same as Pope Francis” in terms of his advocacy for the poor and marginalised.

“He certainly needs to be in the mould of Francis,” Dew said.

Asked whether he himself could become the next Pope, Dew said he wasn’t interested.

“I don’t think so, no. I think whoever is elected these days needs to be someone who can speak several languages, who is very politically astute as well, and I’m certainly not that, and has an ability to really get alongside people from all around the world,” he said.

Dew said he had seen and “enjoyed” the Oscar-winning thriller Conclave, which came out last year and offered a dramatised depiction of the Papal election process.

“It gave people, I think, a very good idea of what does happen”, he said.

Who is John Dew?

Born in Waipawa, Dew went on to study for the priesthood in Christchurch.

He was ordained as a priest in 1976 and appointed an assistant priest at St Joseph’s Parish in Upper Hutt between 1976 and 1979.

Cardinal John Dew in 2021. Photo / Mark Mitchell

He was later appointed a bishop of the Wellington Archdiocese in 1995. Wellington’s Sacred Heart Cathedral was too small for the expected congregation, so he was consecrated bishop in an at-capacity Wellington Town Hall.

He was appointed Archbishop of Wellington in May 2004 by Pope John Paul II, succeeding the late Cardinal Tom Williams.

In 2015, Pope Francis appointed him only the fourth New Zealand cardinal.

In 2021, while still Archbishop of Wellington, Dew apologised to victims who suffered abuse in the church’s care.

Cardinal John Dew at a hearing for the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care in 2022.

Dew said people should have been able to trust the church and those who abused them. He acknowledged that instead, “we caused you pain, hurt and trauma, and this continues to impact you”.

“Any kind of abuse is unacceptable and indefensible. We are deeply sorry.”

On Dew’s 75th birthday in 2023, Pope Francis accepted his resignation as Archbishop of Wellington.

He was previously the president of the New Zealand Catholic Bishops’ Conference.

He was the subject of sexual abuse allegations in May 2023, which dated back to the 1970s.

In a statement to NZME at the time, police said they investigated the allegations, but there was insufficient evidence to lay charges.

Dew “strenuously denied” the allegations.

“There have never been any instances of improper or abusive behaviour in my 48 years of priesthood,” he said at the time.

The conclave

While there are more than 250 cardinals from over 90 countries, only 135 can take part in the vote for a new Pope as those over the age of 80 are excluded.

Pope Francis personally appointed about 110 of the cardinals in the past 10 years.

Of the cardinals, 53 are from Europe, 20 are from North America, 18 are from Africa, 23 are from Asia, four are from Oceania, and 17 are from South America.

The conclave takes place in the Sistine Chapel. The cardinals are sworn to absolute secrecy, under pain of excommunication, during the voting.

Two ballots are held in the morning and two in the afternoon each day, until one candidate wins two-thirds of the votes.

At the end of each session, the ballots are burned in a stove by the chapel, releasing smoke above the Apostolic Palace.

The smoke is black after each unsuccessful ballot, and white once the vote succeeds.

The bells of St Peter’s will peal to accompany the white smoke.

Ethan Manera is a multimedia journalist based in Wellington. He joined NZME in 2023 and is interested in local issues, politics and property in the capital. He is always on the lookout for a story and can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz.