Monday, March 4, 2013

The Papables



Who will be the next Pope? It's a question of enormous importance, and Business Insider gives us a list of likely candidates, with odds!

One Of These Men Will Be The Next Pope

My guess would be Cardinal Turkson. He is a brilliant, energetic and holy man and he would strengthen the Church in Africa, where Christ is sorely needed among the strife and suffering.

Cardinal Turkson is charismatic and his communication skills are excellent, which is becoming very important for a media-age papacy.

Of course I thought Romney was a shoo-in, so...

8 comments:

  1. The article says that the odds favor Cardinal Turkson and not some old Italian, which is kind of surprising.

    It's hard to say which one I like best based on these brief vignettes. Maybe that French Canadian one?

    As much as I abhor identity politics, I think a young-ish pope from Africa or somewhere besides Europe would be a positive change. Even so, I can't say that I would give Turkson the thumbs up based solely on what little I've read in the article.

    I really want someone who will throw the book at sexual abusers and their enablers.

    TRISH

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  2. Adm. G Boggs, Glenbeckistan NavyMarch 4, 2013 at 8:37 AM

    Whoever is elected, they face a difficult task.

    Although the sexual scandals involving clergy have been terrible, they are certainly no worse than the scandals involving, say, teachers in the public schools.

    I believe the real test facing the next Pope will be things like this:

    "[W]hen circumstances occur after birth such that they would have justified abortion, what we call after-birth abortion should be permissible. … [W]e propose to call this practice 'after-birth abortion', rather than 'infanticide'... Therefore, we claim that killing a newborn could be ethically permissible..."

    Gublini and Minerva, Journal of Medical Ethics, 2013.

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  3. TRISH and Adm:

    I agree with both of you. I'd love to have a charismatic Pope, ala JPII, but we need to clean house in the Church. And Adm. makes an excellent point-- the West is paganizing at an astonishing rate, and the Church faces a huge challenge on life and sexuality issues.

    One Cardinal who I admire a lot is Cardinal Sean OMalley of Boston. He seems a very holy man, a good administrator, and strong on pro-life issues. He has a long history as a "fixer"-- he comes into dioceses and cleans things up.

    Hoping and praying...

    I pray a lot.

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  4. Adm. G Boggs, Glenbeckistan NavyMarch 4, 2013 at 10:34 AM

    Just as an aside, the Harvard Business Review published an article entitled "How to Pick the Next Pope".

    Perhaps I'm being a bit harsh, but the Pearlz of Wizzdum from the author, an executive recruiter, made me laugh. I immediately filed it in the Unclear on Concept drawer. But it's an enjoyable read.

    Of course, the recruiter's Pearlz would have disqualified Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and - yes - Peter.

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  5. I would like to see Ouelet or Dolan get the seal.
    A North American pope sounds good to me.

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  6. None of them are young but I'd like someone who is at least not decrepit. And of course I want someone who will open up a can of holy whoop-ass on anyone who's raping kids or covering for them.

    Joey

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    Replies
    1. I agree with all. I believe Benedict when he said that the Lord asked him to step down.

      Hopefully He has something extraordinary planned.

      Delete
  7. I would like to see Cardinal Turkson elected as the next Pope but it may be an Italian that gets the job after 35 years of non-Italian Popes.

    If this happens many will say that St-Malachy prophecies are being fullfilled!

    "Peter the Roman, who will pasture his sheep in many tribulations, and when these things are finished, the city of seven hills [i.e. Rome] will be destroyed, and the dreadful judge will judge his people." (wikipedia)

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