The next pope

[Stunster]

Should JP2 be heading for a meeting any time soon with his predecessor at the Pearly Gates, I'd like to get in early with my canvassing for the position. :-)

But if it's not to be, then my choice is this guy I mention below. So please, everyone, if the subject comes up, just say "Oh, I hope it will be that wonderful man, Cardinal Madariaga...."

Although the pope has appointed many supposed conservatives as
Cardinals, it's quite likely that many of these Cardinals were only
conservative because that's what they had to be get ahead. It's like
many political types will choose to be Republicans when that is more
likely to get them elected, but would choose to be Democrats if that
was more likely.

I think many bishops in the Church are not as conservative as the pope
is at heart, and only come across as conservative in order to toe the
line.

However, I think the most likely possibility is that the next pope
will be a short-term transitional figure. The Cardinals are not going
to vote for someone who might live another 27 years.

One highly regarded progressive candidate is actually the Cardinal of
Honduras, Madariaga. Consider this:


Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Madariaga of Honduras is reported by a
reputable news service to have made the following statement on March
27th to reporters in discussing the Iraq war:

"The true motives for this conflict are already emerging, and there
are frightening economic interests involved. For example, destruction
is carried out in order to have a pretext for reconstruction,"
Cardinal Rodriguez said.

See also http://www.santegidio.org/pdm/news2004/22_05_04_b.htm

and http://www.thetablet.co.uk/cgi-bin/citw.cgi/past-00005

[UrbScotty]

1. He was mentioned in NEWSWEEK

...along with nine other potential popes.

Cardinal Ratzinger scares me the most. He is the Dean of the College of Cardinals, and in the Presidential campaign, many Republicans quoted him as saying abortion and euthanasia were bigger sins than war, in order to defend their double standard on life.

[DemBones DemBones]

3. JP II may just live long enough for Newsweek to have to make

up another "Top Ten" list or two. I hope he will because so many are so anxious to see him dead!

[Cuban_Liberal]

2. Good Pope John was quite a surprise, so I'm optimistic, for now.

That said, let's not forget the old saying that "He who enters the conclave a Pope, emerges a cardinal".

:)

[UrbScotty]

4. Could you explain that saying...

...for someone who was born during the Pontificate of John Paul II?

Not to make you feel old or anything. ;-)

[Cuban_Liberal]

5. He's the only Pope I remember.

I was less than a year old, when he became Pope. As regards the other, it's just an old Roman saying about papabili, and how often the 'favorites' going into the conclave most often re-emerge as cardinals, rather than as Pope.

:)

[Maeve]

6. That's also twice today it was posted in this forum!

:P
The Holy Spirit blows as the Spirit will and the vote counters don't know the whole score...

[Padraig18]

8. You're OOOOOOOOLD, Tony!

Good thing I love you anyway, eh?

:hug::loveya:

[Matilda]

11. Guess I'm old too .... I remember Pope John.

A truly good man, and the best advertisement the Church has had in
my lifetime.

[DemBones DemBones]

13. Ha! I remember Pius XII! nt

[Beer Snob-50]

14. ha, i remember pope peter!!

nice guy, made a really good fish stew!

[Beer Snob-50]

7. i don't share your optimism of a progressive

for the next pope. i have a feeling one just as conservative as jpII will be elected.

that said, i have also thrown my mitre into the ring and would like the job.

[Matilda]

9. Well, JP2 has had lots of time to stack the College of Cardinals

with his men, hasn't he? That's what bothers me, too. Our
Sydney Cardinal, George Pell, is one of the newest, and believe me,
he's one step away from being a fascist. He's a member of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and is widely believed
to have dobbed in (is that an Australian expression only?) one of
our most progressive local priests, Paul Collins, to the
Congregation. He was hounded to retract statements he'd made in
some of his books about the state of the Church in Australia today,
and he finally resigned from the priesthood. Pell's the sort who
thinks Opus Dei are the good guys.

[regnaD kciN]

10. I've been hearing some frightening rumors...

...that the next Pope may well be Cardinal ("Grand Inquisitor") Ratzinger.

Even though the rumors say that he would be considered a short-term "transitional" pontiff, the thought of him being able to issue ex cathedra pronouncements for even a short period of time is terrifying to me.

:scared:

[Matilda]

12. Ditto.

That's all I can say.

[Padraig18]

15. Ratzinger scares me

:scared:

[UrbScotty]

16. I can't see 80 cardinals actually choosing someone like Ratzinger.

Of course, I couldn't see 60 million Americans voting for the Son of a Bush, either.

Sigh.

[Hans Delbrook]

17. Yes but this decision is guided by God

That one was apparently engineered by the devil.

[Matilda]

18. I saw a program in Sydney a couple of weeks ago on the subject,

and one of the cardinals interviewed said that God only comes into
the picture after the decision has been made.

When you consider some of the choices of the past, that makes a lot
of sense.

[Hans Delbrook]

19. I think God does supply the guidance but

some times the cardinal turn a deaf ear. I always felt that a lot of the evil that happens in our world occurs because people refuse to listen to our "better nature" or the urgings of God, as I think of it.

For example, I know someone who was out of work for a long time (I'll call him Dave) and I gave his resume to a friend and vouched for him, as I had worked w/ him for a while. Dave had left his last job under a kind of a shadow, he just couldn't get along w/ his new boss who I think was homophobic (Dave is gay and out). Anyway he left that job w/ out another job and had a heck of a time finding something. I told the whole story to friend and there was a job at his company that Dave was perfect for. Dave never got called in and I was disappointed. Much later (Dave had by this time found something but nearly lost everything in the almost 2 years he was out of work) my friend admitted he had never put Dave in for the job even though he really wanted to and felt it was the right thing to do. He was afraid if Dave got hired and "caused trouble" or bothered someone, he would be blamed. The way he put it to me, "I had nothing really to gain and so much to lose." He refused to listen to his better nature and probably hurt a good person by his inaction.

[Maeve]

20. Quote attributed to Edmund Burke

"All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing."

[Hans Delbrook]

21. The truth of that statement is clearer to me w/ each passing year

I think the balance of "evil" is always the same in the world. It's prevalence is determined by how hard good people do or do not choose to fight it.

[hedgehog]

22. Whoever the next pope is, don't count on knowing what he will

be like. John Paul II was originally thought in some circles to be a liberal. We had no inkling of the combined effects of being raised in an authoritarian culture, fighting communism all his adult life and being raised an only child in a motherless home. I think that after the assassination attempt he retreated in many ways and was a lot less open to change. It's hard to remember now how many of the post Vatican II changes were instituted under John Paul II.