[MWS]

If I were a betting man, of all the names listed I would probably put my money on Tettamanzi. He is of an age where he will not occupy the papacy nearly as long as Pope John Paul II and he most likely will not shake the boat too much (due to the fact that he is Italian) while continuing to move the church in a conservative direction.

[MWS]

Of course, I can only go off of what is said in the article... I do not know much about any of the figures named.

I have been interested to see how this will pan out for a long time.

[MHT]

Apparently, all but five of the cardinals who will vote were named by JPII, and there are 117 of them total. Theoretically, there is another one in waiting who was not named prior to his death so I don't know if he will be eligible to vote, etc.

I hope whoever it is, he's NOT some erudite European (Italian?) who thinks that capitalism is a cardinal sin and that using force to preserve democracy and the opportunity to worship as Christians is evil made real. I also hope that he's not one to sit on his rump should more charges against pedophile priests, nuns, or whoever become an issue.

[PasDe2]

After 5 years lurking just registered in order to ask you; understand.." errare humanum est"...what is meaning of "in errore perservare stultum"? C student in Latin, here. Thanks, much.

[MHT]

If you were betting, you'd be in stride with the London markets as there are already odds out and your man is the #1 pick.

Tettamanzi is an Opus Dei person, which is great fodder for the DaVinci Code crowd. Also, other than being another old Italian, I'm concerned about his potential for criticizing capitalism, the lifeblood of modern democracy. And without democracy, would any church be able to thrive?