As the papal conclave continues their deliberations, Perth’s catholic Filipino community is relishing the prospect of a cultural shift in the Vatican.

Almost 80 per cent of people living in the Philippines are catholic, and there are more than 30,000 Filipinos who call Perth home.

Four front runners have emerged: Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, both from Italy; Cardinal Peter Turkson from Ghana; and Cardinal Luis Tagle from the Philippines.

In the Vatican’s history there has never been a Pope from Africa or Asia, despite being home to more than 30 per cent of the global catholic population.

Curtin Filipino Students’ Society president Ahyen Malibiran says the possibility of a Filipino Pope is important for the community’s identity.

“It means a lot for the Filipino people to be seen as this large religious community,” she says.

“There’s different ideologies and different perspectives that the Pope could offer to this western-centric field.”

Josephine Cabagio is a lifelong member of the Catholic Church who came to Australia in 2011. She says it’s inspiring to see Cardinal Tagle as a front runner.

“As a Filipino I’m a little proud that somebody from our humble country, the Philippines, has been selected as one of the candidates,” she says.

“Most of the possible candidates are from Africa or from Asia and that gives excitement to so many people because representation is such an important thing for us minorities.”

Curtin Filipino Students’ Society events head Kristel Loa-as says the diversity of cardinals up for selection is a sign of positive change.

Unexpected commentary on the conclave has emerged on social media, with videos focused on the election racking up millions of views.

Ms Loa-as thinks this conclave is so talked about because of social media.

“The papal conclave has been all over everyone’s FYP and there’s been different videos and content being made out of it,” she says.

She suggests the amount of engagement it’s attracting online is due to the diversity of candidates.

“I feel like out of all the conclaves I have witnessed, or my parents have spoken about, this has been the biggest or most talked about because most of the candidates are not from European decent of western decent,” she says.