[sinkspur]

The question of direction that the next pope takes this church is just as important as the winner of the last presidential race as it will set the tone for where the church goes in the 21st century. I think that beyond demographics of growth, the issues involving reconciling medical and religious ethics against exponential technological growth will be the more explosive than the impact on the church of the advent of the birth control pill

John Allen, Rome correspondent for the NCR, thinks that the key issue facing the Church is the rise of Islam. No cardinal would be better qualified to face that conundrum than Francis Arinze of Nigeria, having dealt with Imams in his role as Prefect of the Congregation for Interreligious Affairs.

[MHT]

Well, as in the political primaries here, the media will soon cut it down to three or four most-likely's, if only because it's hard to keep track of things if there are more than four choices out there. There's alot of talk on this website about Ratzinger, but that doesn't seem to be supported in the general media. It probably will narrow down to an African, like Arinze; one or two Hispanics from Central or South America; someone who has been a Vatican-insider with alot of friends within the college itself (kind of like an in-house promotion from headquarters); and, some outsider, perhaps someone very old or someone who is known as a philosophical scholar or master linguist.