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For all the guessing that has been invested in who Pope John Paul II's successor will be, only one thing can be said for sure: When it comes to papal elections, there is no such thing as a sure thing.      Only three of the last 20 popes have gone into the conclave as favorites, according to the Rev. James Weiss, an Episcopal priest and associate professor of church history at Boston College. And this time, there is no favorite.      Historically, no one who has been openly critical of the Vatican administration has also been elected, Weiss said, because the...

Rome, April 11 (Reuters): Maybe it describes the colour of his skin or place of birth. But the next Pope will be the “Olive” Pope, according to a 12th century prophecy that foresees just two remaining pontificates before the end of the world. The often-cited — and contested — prediction is attributed to St Malachy, an Irish archbishop recognised by members of the church for his ability to read the future and who was canonised more than 800 years ago. St Malachy was said to have had a vision during a trip to Rome around 1139 of the remaining 112...

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The first message a new pope sends to the world is encoded in the name he chooses. If Roman Catholicism's next leader calls himself John Paul III, that would signal continuity. "John" would connote a gentle father while "Pius" could herald an era of deep conservatism. A name from the distant papal past -- improbable ones like Zephyrinus, Hilarus or Formosus -- would send Catholics scurrying to their history books to see what it could mean. The maxim "Nomen est omen" (Latin for "a name is a sign") is as valid today for popes as it...

NEW YORK - Roman Catholic gay-rights activists don't expect a new pope to suddenly scrap the church's condemnation of homosexuality, but they do hope - cautiously - for a softening of stern Vatican rhetoric and an acceleration of grass-roots moves in some U.S. parishes to make them feel more welcome. "We're realists - we're not going to have someone running out of this conclave as pope and all of sudden everything is perfect," said Sam Sinnett, president of the national gay Catholic organization Dignity USA. "We do hope there will be a little more listening, and an end to the...

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- The worldwide outpouring of affection for Pope John Paul II may have convinced the cardinals choosing his successor that today's Roman Catholic Church has no room for a so-called "transitional" leader. The profile of a pope who knows how to communicate and to bridge cultural and religious divides fits a number of the 115 cardinals assembling in the conclave that begins Monday. Those contenders include Brazil's Claudio Hummes, Argentina's Jorge Bergoglio and Austria's Christoph Schoenborn. Both Hummes, 70, and Bergoglio, 68, have been highly visible advocates for the poor, questioning the benefits of globalization and free-market...

ROMA, April 14, 2005 – On Tuesday, April 19, the first full day of the conclave which will elect the new pope, the feast in the calendar of the Roman Church is that of Saint Leo IX. He was pope between 1049 and 1054. He was a standard bearer of the great “Papal Revolution” which, at the beginning of the second millennium, between the 11th and 12th centuries, refashioned the Church and the West. He was German. And the indisputable front runner in this conclave at the beginning of the third millennium is also German – but above all, he...

I am on the mailing list of several Islamic publications and almost without exception there was veritable glee over the liberal hue and cry from leftists for a more liberal pope. If you read between the lines, you can very clearly see what these Islamics are hoping for: more moral decay in the already evil and decadent West. This evilness would then be used as the reason for the mass slaughter that lies ahead. Allah has demanded that the evil and sinful Christians be sent to the fires of hell and if Islamics are convinced that all Christians are evil,...

The election of a new pope always highlights political tensions and theological differences between cardinals - and this time they are as sharp as ever. Even Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Vatican's watchdog on doctrine, has challenged the pious belief that the elections are the work of the Holy Spirit. In a 1997 interview he pointed out that "there are too many contrary instances of popes the Holy Spirit would not have picked". Instead, the Holy Spirit offered gentle guidance. The College of Cardinals can be divided into conservatives and liberals. But within this there are many shades of opinion. Here...

VATICAN CITY - After two decades of contact and dialogue with the Islamic world under Pope John Paul II, the Vatican is rethinking an outreach program that critics say is diluting Catholicism and has brought almost no benefits to beleaguered Catholic minorities in Muslim countries. (snip) Hanging over the church's deliberations, Vatican officials said, was whether to view Islam as a collaborator in combating secularism or a religious rival.

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Just days before Roman Catholic cardinals select a new pope, a human rights lawyer filed a criminal complaint against an Argentine mentioned as a possible contender, accusing him of involvement in the 1976 kidnappings of two priests. Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio's spokesman on Saturday called the allegation "old slander." The complaint filed in a Buenos Aires court Friday by human rights lawyer Marcelo Parrilli accused Bergoglio, the archbishop of Buenos Aires, of involvement in the kidnappings of two Jesuit priests by the military dictatorship, according to the Buenos Aires newspaper Clarin. The complaint does not specify Bergoglio's...

VATICAN CITY, April 15 - For 455 years, the papacy passed uninterrupted from one Italian to another until the election of the Polish pope, John Paul II. Now, after 26 years, many Italians think it is time to get back in office - for fear that changes in the Roman Catholic Church may close the door on them for good. As 115 cardinals from 52 countries prepare to enter a conclave on Monday to select the next pope, some Vatican historians believe that the election of another foreigner will conclude a historic shift of power away from Italy. According to...

VATICAN staff and clergy involved in the secret election of the next pope swore an oath today not to divulge any information on the proceedings. They swore and signed the oath in the Vatican's Hall of Benedictions in front of Cardinal Eduardo Martinez Somalo, who is in charge of the Church during the papal interregnum, and two other clerics. Under conclave rules established by the late Pope John Paul II in 1996, all clergy and lay people involved in auxiliary capacities during the conclave must sign the oath. They include doctors and nurses, technicians, kitchen and cleaning staff, confessors and...

IN THE next couple of weeks, the cardinals will elect a new pope. He will be a holy man because the cardinals understand the nature of prayer; he will have been a capable bishop, because the cardinals understand the nature of Church administration; he will have a powerful personality, if not as charismatic as that of Pope John Paul II. What more can one say about his likely views? The next pope will be a socialist; no doubt a democratic socialist, but a socialist all the same. Almost every cardinal and bishop in the Roman Catholic Church, and probably every...

A letter sent by Bishop Javier Echevarría to the members of the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross, the faithful of the Prelature of Opus Dei, cooperators and friends.10 April 2005 My dear children: may Jesus watch over my daughters and sons for me! I feel the need to write you once again, just a week after my last letter, because of the events we have witnessed during these days, which are a grace from God for his Church. Together with the other shepherds of the People of God, I ask that all of us may deeply assimilate the marvelous...

LIST OF CARDINAL-ELECTORS (MOST OFTEN MENTIONED AS PAPABILE) ANTONELLI Ennio ARINZE Francis BERGOGLIO Jorge Mario, S.I. CASTRILLÓN HOYOS Darío DANNEELS Godfried HUMMES Cláudio, O.F.M. ORTEGA Y ALAMINO Jaime Lucas RATZINGER Joseph RE Giovanni Battista RODRÍGUEZ MARADIAGA Oscar Andrés, S.D.B. SCHÖNBORN Christoph, O.P. SCOLA Angelo TETTAMANZI Dionigi (OCCASIONALLY MENTIONED AS PAPABILE) BERTONE Tarcisio, S.D.B. BIFFI Giacomo CÉ Marco CIPRIANI THORNE Juan Luis DA CRUZ POLICARPO José DARMAATMADJA Julius Riyadi, S.I. DIAS Ivan ERRÁZURIZ OSSA Francisco Javier, dei P. di Schönstatt HUSAR Lubomyr, M.S.U. KASPER Walter LÓPEZ RODRÍGUEZ Nicolás de Jesús LUSTIGER Jean-Marie MARTINI Carlo Maria, S.I. NAPIER Wilfrid Fox, O.F.M. O'BRIEN...

Progressives, Moderates, Neocons: Notes Before the Conclave On one side, Ratzinger, Ruini, Bergoglio, Scola with their proposal for a new "Papal Revolution." On the other side, the list of their opponents, with Tettamanzi as the man for all seasons ROMA, April 14, 2005 – On Tuesday, April 19, the first full day of the conclave which will elect the new pope, the feast in the calendar of the Roman Church is that of Saint Leo IX. He was pope between 1049 and 1054. He was a standard bearer of the great "Papal Revolution" which, at the beginning of the...

Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga is a man some say could be the next pope. But to Nicole Medina, he is also family — an "uncle," willing to take time out of a busy schedule to offer the Houston college student advice over the phone and help her younger brother work out a difficult passage on the saxophone. Reuters Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras has family, church and academic connections in Houston. . To Houston lawyer Terence O'Rourke, the cardinal is a colleague in the fight against the death penalty. He's also a friend who is not above sharing...

    Outsiders to watch »   A little about some of the candidates... Francis Arinze - Born 1st November 1932 (Age: 70) Arinze would be the first African Pope since Gelasius I in the fifth century. Like John Paul II Arinze holds strong conservative views on abortion, contraception & homosexuality. Arinze believes that theologically all people come from the same God and his desire to improve inter-faith relations would see many other religions being welcomed by the Catholic Church What will go in his favour? His conservative views. His ability to improve and encourage Inter-faith relations He is well...

...on condoms, that is.Thoraya Obaid, director of the United Nations Population Fund, told Reuters on the sidelines of an aid conference:"There has been a beginning of an opening, especially on HIV/AIDS and the use of condoms for prevention of infection," . "We are hoping the new pope will take this message further, because it makes no sense sending people to their death." "We hope that all positions would focus on what is really needed to fight ... HIV and take the morally correct decision on how to do that," Obaid said.Commentary. Well well well. What is this "sending people to...

Italian newspapers, like nature, abhor a vacuum, and hence in reaction to the press blackout imposed this week by the College of Cardinals, all manner of speculation and rumor has been appearing in the local press. One day Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Secretary of State under Pope John Paul II, is touted as a leading contender to be the next pope; the next day, the old “Great White Hope” of the church’s liberal wing, Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, is the hot tip. Much of this, despite the oblique hints dropped by some journalists of “deep throat” sources, is built on...