he clearly feels that he is not only too weak to continue physically, but too weak to continue to fight against the wolves and that if he remains, they will somehow overcome him and thus be free to savage the Church.
It certainly appears that way. Doubtful he would break with papal tradition without very serious reasons.
I know the liberal wolves are going to do everything they can to undermine the conclave, just as the Dems used every conceivable dirty trick to steal the last US election.
Do you mean liberal cardinals? I have read that the composition of the College of Cardinals has shifted toward greater orthodoxy under JPII and Benedict XVI. (Although some of their appointments could turn out to be wolves in sheep's clothing.) Cardinal Scola would seem to be the most likely choice if the goal is to continue along the path that John Paul and Benedict have established.
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**Although some of their appointments **
Not Benedict’s appointments. They have turned around the U. S. Bishops to a great extent. Yes, there are still some older Bernardin Boys or Jadot’s Tots in there. But they will be reaping their reward soon.
Remember the quote????
“The walls of hell are paved with the skulls of Bishops.”
Not a great reward, huh?
BXVI has done everything possible to shift it. He also returned to the formula of the 2/3 vote (instead of the 50%+1 that JPII had instituted), so hopefully that will slow them down.
Cdl Scola might be fine personally, but I think any Italian would probably still be too embedded in the centuries of insane curial tradition to make the changes necessary. The whole system has to be rebuilt, because JPII (as he became incompetent, which I think actually happened long before most people realized it) was completely overwhelmed by the curial wolves and they then effectively prevented BXVI from completing projects that should have been easy to accomplish simply because to do so might have impinged on their perks and power.
I just hope we don’t get the African who wants to establish a “global economic authority.” Like Africa, which lives entirely on foreign aid, knows anything about global economics? Or the Vatican, which lives entirely on donations, has any idea?