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<p>It…will…never…happen.</p>
<p>[Experts</a> say Vatican insider likely will be chosen to succeed Pope Benedict XVI - Metro - The Boston Globe](<a href=“http://bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/02/11/experts-say-vatican-insider-likely-will-chosen-succeed-pope-benedict-xvi/TOl9H9JXc69tzA3tgvTuyJ/story.html]Experts”>http://bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/02/11/experts-say-vatican-insider-likely-will-chosen-succeed-pope-benedict-xvi/TOl9H9JXc69tzA3tgvTuyJ/story.html)</p>
<p>No, it won’t. The media are only including him in the front runners to throw a bone to America. American Catholics are seen as too volatile to produce a leader of the universal Church. And call me a true believer, but it was my understanding that the Holy Spirit had something to do with it too. ;-)!</p>
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<p>xiggi, Jesuit author Rev. James Martin is right there with you:</p>
<p>“The pope has to be first of all someone who can effectively preach the Gospel; second, someone able to do so in a stunning variety of cultures, and a person who can, at the same time, run an international operation that cares for one billion persons,” Martin said. “Essentially, the cardinals are looking for someone who can combine the spiritual with the practical: in a word, a combination of St. Peter and Steve Jobs.”</p>
<p>[Colbert</a> for pope? The surprising standards for the next Catholic leader – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs](<a href=“http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/02/12/colbert-for-pope-the-surprising-standards-for-the-next-catholic-leader/]Colbert”>http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/02/12/colbert-for-pope-the-surprising-standards-for-the-next-catholic-leader/)</p>
<p>The Canadian, Cardinal Ouellet, seems like an interesting possibility. I think he’s more likely than a U.S. cardinal. His election could make South American Catholics happy, too.</p>
<p>There’s a famous saying about the conclave: those who enter the conclave as Popes, leave it as Cardinals. Meaning, it’s not usually the media favorites who win.</p>
<p>Also, there is a HEAVY European voting block: [List</a> of living cardinals - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_living_cardinals]List”>List of current cardinals - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>Everyone in that list under the age of 80 at the time of the conclave votes, and 2/3 majority is needed for white smoke. Unless there is a not European who can get a majority of European Cardinals, it’s probably going to continue to be a European.</p>
<p>I also think it’s extremely unlikely an American will be picked.</p>
<p>I guess I never realized the mean age for cardinals was so high. Those numbers really shocked me!</p>
<p>Just for fun:</p>
<p>[We</a> Have a Pope - Official Trailer [HD] - YouTube](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube)</p>
<p>I haven’t seen the movie but my daughter alerted me to it. (It amuses me to find out what my kids sometimes watch. We Have a Pope in Italian?) One review below:</p>
<p>[Watch:</a> We Have a Pope | USCatholic.org](<a href=“http://www.uscatholic.org/culture/art-and-reviews/2012/04/watch-we-have-pope]Watch:”>Watch: We Have a Pope)</p>
<p>I nominate Robbie Coltrane, he whom portrayed the Holy Father in the comedy “The Pope Must Dance.” You movie trivia buffs know that wasn’t the original title of the film.</p>
<p>Until the church fully discloses and admits how they covered for child rapists, abusers of young women in Ireland, the selling of children and pays for their sins, I will not step back into a catholic church. Hypocrits the lot of them.</p>
<p>Old men deciding the spiritual and daily lives of people that have no clue about. Discussing sex as if they have a clue. Saying women are incabaple of leading in a church.</p>
<p>I see the church going further to the right, and opus dei gaining more and more influence. E pope didn’t resign, he was forced out. For him to have to say, I do this freely seems very odd.</p>
<p>The hitler youth thing didn’t even bother me. It was his continued defense of criminals and animals in is midst, to the point of promoting those that helped priests rape children.</p>
<p>Disgusting.</p>
<p>Dear footballmom,</p>
<p>It was all I could think about yesterday. It is nearly all I can think about today. </p>
<p>I have such mixed emotions about his decision accompanied by a deep affection for him, his no-nonsense, but quiet style, this intellectual giant, scholar, introvert, holy, brave man and Pope. I will deeply miss him being the leader of my Church. People talk about him not being able to fill JPII’s shoes, but I can’t imagine anyone filling his!</p>
<p>^why? What did he do that will be hard to follow? Genuine question.</p>
<p>John Paul II was very charismatic, especially with youth. I caught part of a youth day in Rome and the emotion and numbers were amazing even at his death. Whether they agreed with everything or not, he seemed to reach more than this Pope. I don’t think he connected the same way at all. Even some with a big beef with doctrine, etc. once they met JPII, usually liked him on some level. </p>
<p>The abuse was a huge stain on the church, totally inexcusable although we share that sin with many other religions. The fact that they tried to hide it, etc. will never be understandable or forgivable, but I do feel for the majority of good priests that have to live with the sins of their brothers. I’ve known many that do great work without all the politics.</p>
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<p>And institutions such as the Boy Scouts of America and Penn State. Thank you for pointing this out, Debruns.</p>
<p>There are scandals in every organization on Earth. Organizations are full of people and people are sinners. I am ashamed of anyone in the church who abused anyone in any way–especially those who used their authority or position in the Church to abuse others.
However, I still attend the Catholic church because, in my observation, the vast majority of Catholics are trying to live by Christian principles. The Catholic church and its members are still doing immeasurable good works throughout the world–providing food, healthcare, and education and working for peace and justice. While I am not proud of the inquisition, (NPR still reporting on that, btw ), I am in awe of the vast cultural legacy–in art, music, architecture, etc. that the Catholic church has given us all, as well as the networks of schools, hospitals, religious orders, charities, etc.<br>
It is hard to see the media consistently reporting all the bad news about the Catholic church, while consistently ignoring the good news. IMO there is a disproportionate amount of unbalanced, negative reporting about the Catholic Church, and unfortunately, this is the only picture of the Church that most non-Catholics ever receive.</p>
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<p>John Paul II was an unexpected successor for pope, passing over 2 strong favorites and most elected popes were unexpected candidates, just saying.</p>
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<p>Bit surprising, given the hard-core dogmatic bent of the American bishops. But maybe they want to go third-world to put a more inclusive face on the unchanged message. (At the risk of being political–sort of like Marco Rubio.)</p>
<p>I’m finding it interesting how much negative press Benedict has been getting, since his views are faithful to JPII’s, who was, obviously more deft politically. After all, he was bad-cop–as the Pope’s pit bull–to good cop JPII.</p>
<p>Gary Wills: <a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/opinion/new-pope-ive-given-up-hope.html?_r=0[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/opinion/new-pope-ive-given-up-hope.html?_r=0</a></p>
<p>One commentator said that Benedict’s legacy will that he resigned.</p>
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<p>If it turns out to be, I’m not sure that’s a bad thing. It was uncomfortable watching John Paul II’s long decline. The papacy is a demanding job, and when Paul VI said that paternity cannot be resigned, one didn’t really expect a man living in western Europe to live well into his 80s.</p>
<p>And, sadly, I will say there’s another part of me that thinks if this turns out to be Benedict’s legacy, Benedict will have gotten off easy.</p>
<p>Here’s a fairly scathing op-ed piece on the Pope:</p>
<p><a href=“Opinion | Farewell to an Uninspiring Pope - The New York Times”>Opinion | Farewell to an Uninspiring Pope - The New York Times;
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<p>Similar to the legacy of Washington retiring after two terms and not being president for life or king.</p>
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<p>He was the pope’s nanny dog?</p>