Cristóbal López Romero

Cardinal López Romero supports Fiducia supplicans, which he says North African bishops accepted because it reaffirms the Church's traditional doctrine on marriage and sexuality. He rejects the labels 'conservative' and 'progressive'. He has made few public statements on other moral questions.

No public statement by Cardinal López Romero on the traditional Mass or Traditionis custodes was found. As archbishop of Rabat, he leads a small, highly international Church of more than 100 nationalities, whose liturgical life is shaped by that diversity.

Cardinal López Romero makes service to migrants a central priority of the Church in Morocco, through Caritas and the Qantara programme. He denounces violence against migrants and says migration is not the problem in itself: its causes are war, persecution, hunger and inequality.

Created cardinal by Pope Francis, López Romero is a vocal supporter of synodality and says he connects with Francis's proposals, while declining the label 'Franciscan'. He has described the pope's 2019 visit to Morocco and his meeting with migrants as a clear message. Press accounts describe him as among the cardinals most in tune with Francis's concerns.

In a Muslim-majority country, Cardinal López Romero makes interreligious dialogue central to his ministry. He describes it on several levels, from everyday friendship to cooperation on education and human rights, and speaks of Christians and Muslims as brothers and sisters.

Cardinal López Romero speaks frequently to the press in several languages and outlets. He avoids labelling people as conservative or progressive and stresses that the Church must build unity without suffocating diversity.