Shouldn't they go with a younger man who can jet around easier? That's why Pope Benedict is resigning (abdicating?) right? I think his stepping down is commendable.
I'd never heard of Turkson before. My mom said he was a "progressive". Googling that she's not alone in thinking so. But he also pissed off Muslims some how which is good (AFAIC).
Her opinion of Dolan has also soured for some reason (I forget what she said). She used to love him, before he got the NY job she was hoping he would be the next Archbishop of Chicago. Her favorite American is the Archbishop of Los Angeles who isn't even a Cardinal yet so likely will not be considered.
She thinks most the South America Cardinals are progressive, she mentioned a Spanish Cardinal she liked that no one was mentioning, the name escapes me.
I told her I thought the Italians would be desperate to get the office back, she didn't think that was gonna happen (like ever). I wouldn't be so sure. While I would bet on a non-Italian no single country has a better chance. Kinda like how every Senator looks in the mirror and sees a future President I bet every Italian Cardinal looks in the mirror and sees a future Pope. ;)
Cardinal Arinze would be the ideal choice if he were 20 years younger, it would literally be the papal version of "Senator Tim Scott" and drive the media/leftists nuts because you'd have an outspoken conservative black man as the leader of an organization they claim is run by out-of-touch old white guys with Victorian era values that don't appeal to minorities.
There have actually been no less than three "African" Popes in the past, but all of them were Pope over 1000 years ago, and it's likely none of them were black (they were from northern African areas like Eygpt rather than sub-sahara Arica), so any african pope in modern times would be huge news.
As it stands, I see almost zero chance of Cardinal Arinze being elected because of his age (80). If elected, he'd be the oldest person ever to become Pope (the current record is Clement X, age 79 years, 290 days, when he became Pope in 1670... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ages_of_popes ).
I also agree with Impy that Pope Benedict's resignation is one of the reasons they'll likely go with a younger man. By electing Benedict, they replaced an 83 year old with a 78 year old. Benedict got it because nobody else could handle the transisistion more smoothly than him and he'd carry on JPII's policies for a few more years. But now that the "transistional Pope" is over, they'll go back to electing a younger Pope who can serve for a while, like they did in 1978 when they elected 58 year old JPII.
And I do think a younger, more energetic Pope is the right direction to go now. Benedict's ideology was fine but he didn't have the fightin' spirit to take his case to the people and prove the liberal caricatures of him were wrong. The Mormon Church gets away with replacing really really old guys with really old guys (when the most recent 92 year old Mormon "Prophet" died, they replaced him with the guy who was next in senority at age 84), but it's not something the Catholic Church can afford. We need a forceful younger conservative there now for the same reason we need younger judges on SCOTUS. Another Pope in his 80s would be a seat warmer.
>> That's why Pope Benedict is resigning (abdicating?) right? I think his stepping down is commendable. << <<
After Vatican II, they changed the papal corination to a "papal inauguration " (no more crowning him with the triple crown tiara, etc.) to make it more down to earth and less glitzy, royalty-type stuff, so "resigning" is the correct word rather than abdicating.
>> Her opinion of Dolan has also soured for some reason (I forget what she said). She used to love him, before he got the NY job she was hoping he would be the next Archbishop of Chicago. Her favorite American is the Archbishop of Los Angeles who isn't even a Cardinal yet so likely will not be considered. <<
I remember Dolan made some ridiculous comment (can't remember what it was) but otherwise he'd been an excellent defacto leader for American Catholics. His closing prayer at the DNC convention (basically renouncing everything they had been championing for the last 3 days) was classic. Prior to Dolan, the only American Cardinal considered "papapilli" in 2005 was Chicago's own Francis George. He's fairly conservative, but lacks balls (as evidenced by the fact that Obama loving heretic "priest" Fr. Pfleger walks all over him without repercussions)
The ideal American choice, IMO, would be the newly named Archbishop of San Francisco, Salvatore J. Cordileone http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvatore_Joseph_Cordileone My pastor personally knows the guy from seminary. He's like the Scalia of American bishops. But he's not a member of the college of cardinals yet and is not eligible. In any case, won't be an American Pope anyway.
>> She thinks most the South America Cardinals are progressive, she mentioned a Spanish Cardinal she liked that no one was mentioning, the name escapes me. <<
I think so as well (they tend to focus on "social justice" issues like "poverty" and demand more government handouts) , and my biggest fear (may just be regional bias though) is that a Latin American pope would take a personal interest in "immigration reform" and we'd have some headline like "His Holiness Pope Martin VI visits the United States to press for immigrant rights", and Catholic conservatives in America would be placed in the uncomfortable position of opposing the Pope (Michael Moore, meanwhile, will suddenly discover he loves the Pope again) >>
I told her I thought the Italians would be desperate to get the office back, she didn't think that was gonna happen (like ever). I wouldn't be so sure. While I would bet on a non-Italian no single country has a better chance. Kinda like how every Senator looks in the mirror and sees a future President I bet every Italian Cardinal looks in the mirror and sees a future Pope. <<
The only (slim) chances in 2005 that Benedict XVI wouldn't get the job rested on the "whoever enters the conclave as front runner for Pope never gets the papacy" (which was proven wrong once he was elected), and the idea that Italian cardinals would be desperate to get back "their" Pope after having it 400 years but then losing it to a Polish guy in 1978. After two non-Italians, I think the Italian-dominated papacy is gone for the foreseeable future. Part of the reason is demographics -- Italians made up 56.25% of the college of cardinals in 1903, but only 17.09% in 2005. Over the past century, they've been elevating more and more non-European bishops to the rank of Cardinal. Ironically, the second highest number of Popes after Italians was the French (they controlled the papacy for nearly a century in the 1300s) and given the current world trends, I doubt we'll ever see another French Pope again.
Here's another wild card (aside from the newly named Cardinal from India I brought up as a joke)... how about an Pope from Asia? That would be a huge upset as well. Vietnamese, Korean Pope anyone?