white smoke
Gunnair @ Wed Mar 13, 2013 11:46 am
llama66 llama66:
It'll be an Italian or Brazillian pope. No way do they look to North America or Africa for a new pontiff.
Dunno about that. NA is a conservatively bold move.
edit - rumour of NA pope.
Thanos @ Wed Mar 13, 2013 11:46 am
Be nice if the new guy wasn't involved in the global pedophile cover-up, the way Ratzinger clearly was, but given how deep that particular bit of rot is running through the Church it's highly unlikely that anyone in the current hierarchy isn't stained by it.
raydan @ Wed Mar 13, 2013 11:59 am
I kinda wonder what would happen if the Church could actually push followers away if they try to change too much... too fast. Although I don't think they would lose Latin America support, Africa is another matter. There would be another religion waiting with open arms for those unhappy Catholics.
commanderkai @ Wed Mar 13, 2013 12:00 pm
Thanos Thanos:
Be nice if the new guy wasn't involved in the global pedophile cover-up, the way Ratzinger clearly was, but given how deep that particular bit of rot is running through the Church it's highly unlikely that anyone in the current hierarchy isn't stained by it.
Yeah, the only way an Italian pope can be feasible is if he would be able to purge and reform the elements that allowed the sex scandal to occur.
I don't think an African pope is likely, although it would be a bold move. The sort of skeletons that might be in those closets, especially in countries that are recovering from internal strife can certainly become highly controversial.
Latin America would be a somewhat safer choice.
Gunnair @ Wed Mar 13, 2013 12:01 pm
More rumours of a Canuck.
martin14 @ Wed Mar 13, 2013 12:03 pm
raydan raydan:
I kinda wonder what would happen if the Church could actually push followers away if they try to change too much... too fast. Although I don't think they would lose Latin America support, Africa is another matter. There would be another religion waiting with open arms for those unhappy Catholics.
Which would be a very strong reason to elect someone from Africa.
The U.S. did elect Obama, twice.
raydan @ Wed Mar 13, 2013 12:13 pm
Argentina...
Gunnair @ Wed Mar 13, 2013 12:14 pm
Pope Francis from SA.
DanSC @ Wed Mar 13, 2013 12:14 pm
raydan raydan:
Argentina...
Welp; so much for allowing Catholics to rejoin the Crown's line of succession.
martin14 @ Wed Mar 13, 2013 12:14 pm
Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, 77, of Argentina.
Gunnair @ Wed Mar 13, 2013 12:15 pm
DanSC DanSC:
raydan raydan:
Argentina...
Welp; so much for allowing Catholics to rejoin the Crown's line of succession.
raydan @ Wed Mar 13, 2013 12:15 pm
A young guy.
martin14 @ Wed Mar 13, 2013 12:16 pm
Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, 77, of Argentina.
He is the Jesuit intellectual who was the second choice of the conclave that elected Joseph Ratzinger eight years ago. His humility is celebrated; he rides a bus to work, wears an ordinary priest's robe, and lives with an old priest in a simple apartment rather than the archbishop's luxurious residence.
He had his clergy wear garments of penitence for sins committed under the country's military dictatorship. He also espouses church teaching on homosexuality, abortion and contraception. He has no Vatican experience.
He will be Pope Francis I
The BBC guys are gobsmacked. 
DanSC @ Wed Mar 13, 2013 12:17 pm
martin14 martin14:
He will be Pope Francis I
Oh, what? The list of pope names wasn't good enough?
commanderkai @ Wed Mar 13, 2013 12:20 pm
Well, they got an Italian-Argentinian, which certainly sounds like a good figure to represent both the developed and the developing world.