You’ll notice I haven’t put up my predictions for who will be elected Pope in the conclave. That’s because I’m not ready to do so yet. I’m still looking at the candidates, thinking about who the power brokers will be.
And in the end, it would be foolish to try to predict the next Pope. If there isn’t an obvious choice going into the conclave, as there was with Pius XII, for example, then your guess is likely to be wrong. But what I can do is talk about what criteria I think will be used and who I think will be on the lists of most of the cardinals and why.
Look for that soon.
Habemus papam: Christoph von Schonborn. Multi-lingual, has dealt with sex abuse and Islam, from a neutral country, congenial personality, theologically sophisticated.
There may be a movement afoot to top JPII. How? Install a dynamic 3rd Worlder who has good English and is media savvy. Imagine getting clear cut Catholic doctrine in understandable English….just the thing to shake up the Americans/Western Europeans.
I think First Worlders are going to get the smack down…if not in this conclave then in the next.
Dark horse: Cardinal Casper.