[jocon307]

"...regarded as rather more flexible and pragmatic."

Oh, is this what they are calling it now?

[Izzy Dunne]

But four out of five experts agree: He WILL be Catholic.

[Izzy Dunne]

They range from staunch conservatives like Francis George of Chicago and James Stafford, head of a Vatican tribunal, to Los Angeles' Roger Mahony and Washington's Theodore McCarrick, regarded as rather more flexible and pragmatic.

Intersesting that "conservative" is on one end of this spectrum, but "flexible" and "pragmatic" are on the other end.

[mainepatsfan]

Will they consult the UN?

[anita]

Main reason may be that they (Catholics) fear any influence from the liberal MSM.

[Vn_survivor_67-68]

I've noticed over the last 24 hrs that many of the talking heads are not quite pressuring the Cardinals to elect a 3rd worlder.....eraldo, dor instanc, last nite spent considerable time "discussing" this with a Priest and a Catholic watcher/pundut/author. I've seen others do this as well.

[bd476]

Pope John Paul II May 18, 1920 - April 2, 2005

"...'the church always tried to keep (the papacy)
out of the hands of the superpower' of the day..."

[pfflier]

"The economic, political and military power of the United States leads to resentments, and that's part of the human dynamic," George Weigel, John Paul II's biographer, said.

Where does spirituality and qualification fit in?

[Phsstpok]

"the church always tried to keep (the papacy) out of the hands of the superpower" of the day, whether the Holy Roman Empire, Spain or France. The exception, the 14th century French popes who moved the Holy See to Avignon, proved disastrous."

the ascension of the French Popes and the move of the Papacy to Avignon (now called the Avignon captivity) resulted directly from the murder of two Popes and the seizure of the Papacy by armed forces of King Phillip of France, led by Guillaume de Nogart.

The Conclave of Cardinals that chose the French Popes was made up of Frenchmen originally loyal to Philip appointed by him after dismissing, running off or murdering, almost all of the sitting Cardinals. After Philip's untimely death (he was cursed by one of his victims to "meet me before the throne of God for judgement and did die within a year) the Kings of France continued to hold the reins of appointments of Cardinals for nearly 70 years, and therefore held the Papacy as a puppet of their rule.

To this day the Catholic Church still pretends that this was all somehow OK and we should all just ignore this bizarre episode as having no importance.

Oh, and the Templars really were heretics. Philip and Guillaume said so as an excuse to sieze their treasury and lands. It must be true. A Catholic King said so and the Pope who dared to challenge him on his crimes died (of poisoning). It must be God's truth, otherwise He woudln't have allowed it to happen.

[B Knotts]

Popes need to be the masters of many languages but most Americans are fluent only in English, Reese said.

Apparently, they don't teach logic in the Jesuit seminaries these days. Or in the journalism schools.

How does the fact that "most Americans are fluent only in English" have any bearing on any one particular individual who would be a candidate to the papacy?

There are many reasons why an American pope is extremely unlikely, but the above is not one of them.

[Grzegorz 246]

There is a big chance that the next Pope will be from America, but rather from Central/Southern America than from USA.

[chatham]

Most of the American Cardinals and Many bishops should be in Prison, never mind being Pope.

[A. Pole]

In early sixties (when I was a child in Poland) the prophecy was circulating (in form of a circular letter) among neighbours and all around the country. It stuck im memory because it was unusual.

"There will be two popes before the end of the world - the first will be Polish the next and the last will be Negro [black]."

[Tax-chick]

Duh.

[GreenHornet]

I wonder if the Democrats, out of force of habit, will try to filibuster the nomination.

[Dog Gone]

Don't pick me. I'd put a Hemi in the popemobile and some sponsor decals on the side.

That just wouldn't be right.

[starfish923]

American Catholics have also been known to be pro-abortion, pro-homosexuality, pro-married clergy and pro-women priests.
The priest pederasty scandal was an American phenomenon, only recently (last 30 years) and was handled badly MOSTLY by American higher clergy -- the very ones who might be cardinals now.
To many Catholics the Vatican was just never modern enough, never did enough to help in WWII, was too full of old white men, blah, blah, always wrong, never measuring up, the same ole p.c. crap that filled our pages of news throughout the 60's, 70's 80's 90's and 00's.

The media certainly promoted the anti-Vaticanism of American Catholics but there didn't seem to be much in the way of counter-acting that anti-Vaticanism.
For too many American Catholics: No immediate, drastic reform = bad Vatican.
I read it for years.
Now we reap what we sowed.

John-Paul II just never did enough. We didn't know how good we had it with him. We won't see his likes again for a long time.

No disagreement with the article. Just adding my own thoughts.

[Mamzelle]

Even a pope's death, a pontiff held in affection more by those in the New World than Old Moldy Europe--even his death is an opportunity to bash and insult Americans.

This is highly offensive. It's not like we're applying for the job.

Never had any expectation of a US-born pope--but now I have expectations of an anti-American one.

[Arthur McGowan]

The fact that wimps like Stafford and George can be called "staunch conservatives" among the American Cardinals is one reason the Pope will not be an American.

[Semper Paratus]

Any truth to the rumor that John Kerry is having historian Brinkley rush a new book to print detailing Kerry's secret trip to Cambodia to mass convert the Khmer Rouge to Catholicism?