Manila, May 1 -- English-language media outlets have identified three leading contenders to succeed Pope Francis, highlighting Cardinals Pietro Parolin and Matteo Zuppi of Italy, along with Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, according to a study by analytics firm Cribrum commissioned by Russian news agency TASS.

The study found that Cardinal Parolin, the Vatican's Secretary of State, was mentioned three times more frequently than Tagle and Zuppi in English-language media.

This pattern was also reflected in social media discussions across platforms.

From April 21 to 28, despite the official mourning period declared by the Vatican, over 16,500 news articles across 1,214 publications-with a combined audience of 352 million-focused on t...