In the run-up to the recent conclave, someone created a diagram consisting of three overlapping circles containing the names of several papabile cardinals. The first circle was labelled “Global Fluency”, the second “Governance”, and the third “Charisma”. In hindsight, it should be no surprise that Cardinal Robert Prevost was at the intersection of all three.
Diagrams of this form, which use circles to depict sets of items, are known as Venn diagrams. For most of us, Venn diagrams are about as far as we get into the subject of sets. However, someone like Pope Leo XIV—who majored in mathematics at university—would have been taught that sets are among the fundamental building blocks of mathematics. Their importance cannot be overstated.
