[quote] Ghana’s Cardinal Peter Turkson, Canada’s Cardinal Marc Ouellet and Cardinal Francis Arinze of Nigeria lead in betting with Britain’s major bookmakers.
William Hill made Turkson — one of the highest-ranking African cardinals at the Vatican — its 3/1 favorite Monday, followed by Ouellet at 7/2 and Arinze at 4/1. Ladbrokes also had Turkson as favorite, followed by Arinze and Ouellet.
I figure they’ll go for an African, so anytime anyone brings up women’s or gays’ rights, conservatives can start screaming about racist liberals trying to impose evil Western secular values on pious god-fearing Third World cultures.
I heard through well informed sources that a Belgian is in the running.
After numerous pedophile scandals - involving so called “reputable” holy bodies, the below might be a good add-on
PS. No disrespect intended to the institution called “church” but “Popes” whom are still crusading against birth control do not belong in the Vatican.
Euh … seems I go OT here.
Well, anyway, I hope that we got a charismatic one again like Karol Józef Wojtyła
We will no doubt know who the new Pope is soon, if it makes a difference. Sincerely hope he can lead his followers in a more responsible fashion as ,I suspect, do many Catholics.
I developed a theory at the local bar back home that it’s time for a Spaniard, and so I’m backing Antonio Canizares Llovera, an interesting longshot actually.
[quote=“Tempo Gain”]I developed a theory at the local bar back home that it’s time for a Spaniard, and so I’m backing Antonio Canizares Llovera, an interesting longshot actually.
lol.[/quote]
TG looks like more of the same shit we have had for 1000 years. EG He says: the pain of what happened in a few Schools ( child abuse) is nothing compared to the suffering caused by abortion to millions !! Time for people to wake up and realise what a load of rubbish all this actually is. Whoever is elected ,will not change the fundamental shit spouted by this Institution. Just my opinion.I would have no issue with Catholicism… if it had any sensible ideas.Time will tell.
Ouch. In fairness to my pick however, I wasn’t able to find any context on that, except a qualification that “the behaviour of some Catholic priests and nuns in Ireland was to be totally condemned and that they had committed crimes ‘for which we have to ask forgiveness’.”
Scottish cardinal resigns over gay sex accusations:
[quote]Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric announced his resignation on Monday, a day after being accused of “inappropriate acts” with priests, saying he would not attend the conclave to elect a new pope.
The cleric, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, said that he had submitted his resignation months ago, and that the Vatican said Pope Benedict XVI had accepted it on Feb. 18. However, the timing of the announcement — a day after news reports of alleged abuse appeared in Britain — suggested that the Vatican had encouraged the cardinal to stay away from the conclave.
“Everybody’s been struck by how quickly Rome responded,” said Austen Ivereigh, director of the British church advocacy group Catholic Voices. “Clearly Rome saw that there was sufficient substance to the allegations. They would not have told him to stand down unless they thought there was something worth investigating.” [/quote]
So, it looks like the Vatican has turned over a new leaf, after years of foot-dragging and cover-ups.
Or…[quote]Last week, Cardinal O’Brien drew different headlines, telling the BBC that the next pope should consider abandoning the church’s insistence on priestly celibacy, and suggesting that it might be time for the papal conclave to choose a pontiff from Africa or Asia, where church membership has been growing even as it has fallen across Europe and North America. [/quote]
Funny how these accusations " going back to the 1980s" suddenly surfaced after the cardinal took a stand so strongly opposed by the Vatican, and -unlike the other cases - Rome acted so swiftly.
Don’t tell me that’s a coincidence.
