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Subscribe to RSSThe final hours of Pope Benedict XVI’s papacy, including his scheduled departure on Thursday from the Vatican by helicopter, have been planned in detail. But major questions remain over the timing of the choice of his successor, which some experts fear “could go on a while.”
A date for the start of the secret papal conclave may not be chosen until the world’s cardinals formally meet on Monday for the first time since Benedict’s departure.
When Pope Benedict XVI steps down, he will head to the sleepy town of Castel Gandolfo, used by popes as a quiet sanctuary for 400 years, where he will await the completion of construction on his new home. NBC's Savannah Guthrie reports.
Observers say the Vatican’s leaden bureaucracy, the curia, could act as a brake on the election mechanism despite Benedict’s attempt to accelerate progress on Monday by amending ancient church laws.
Timing is important because Holy Week begins March 24, with Easter Sunday March 31. To have a new pope in place for the church's most solemn liturgical period, the chosen candidate would need to be installed by Sunday, March 17.
The decision itself may also be drawn out as cardinals struggle to overcome deep divisions and rivalries over who is best placed to get a grip on the Vatican and move the church forward from an era of scandal and intrigue.
“My sense is this could go on a while,” said NBC News' Vatican expert, George Weigel. “There’s no clear front-runner. There is also a serious concern at the way in which the bureaucracy is operating amid all of this. It could be a very contentious conclave.”
Thomas Groome, professor of theology and religious education at Boston College, Mass., said the timing and duration of the conclave remained “anyone's guess.”
“My guess is that it will be a long one - certainly far longer than the previous. There is no front runner and a lot of issues to be weighted, most especially how to respond - finally and effectively - to the clergy sex abuse scandal.”
Church officials could be forgiven for being nervous: The longest papal election in history dragged on for two years and three months, lasting so long that three cardinals died and a fourth resigned before a decision was reached, in 1271.
Gabriel Bouys / AFP - Getty Images
The pope delivers his final audience in St. Peter's Square as he prepares to stand down.
The most recent conclave, in 2005, lasted only 24 hours – not least because the death of Pope John Paul II was not unexpected and cardinals had been positioning to take over for many years.
In contrast, Benedict's decision to abdicate appears to have taken most of the Catholic hierarchy by surprise.
Matthew Bunson, general editor of the Catholic Almanac and author of 45 books, including a biography of Benedict, said much would depend on the length of the “general congregations” – Vatican meetings that discuss issues facing the church prior to the start of the conclave itself.
“If the cardinals are able to come to a consensus on a candidate or a few candidates, then the conclave will be relatively short,” said Bunson. “If there is disagreement about the potential candidates, then the conclave may be a protracted one.”
He added: “There does seem to be a general agreement that the new pontiff must be in a position to assume the challenges of the office quickly. Combined with the sense of urgency because of the looming events of Holy Week, that would give the cardinals some incentive to enter quickly and reach a conclusion in a relatively short time.”
That sentiment was echoed by the Rev. Thomas Reese, author of "Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church,” who said: “I don't expect them to take more than three days. Last time it went over five days was in 1831.”
The Rev. Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, told the Catholic News Service on Wednesday that it is possible the world's cardinals will not begin meeting at the Vatican until Monday, and a conclave start date cannot be set until they have met.
Leading historian Michael Walsh discusses the impact of Pope Benedict XVI's resignation, his legacy and whether there's a chance that the next pontiff will be a non-European.
Lombardi said Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, will send out letters Friday formally informing the world's cardinals that the papacy is vacant and calling them to meet at the Vatican.
Many Vatican insiders believe the timing now points to a conclave starting Monday, March 11.
The number of cardinals eligible to take part has already been reduced by two, from 117 to 115, after Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, stepped aside over allegations from priests of “inappropriate behavior,” and an Indonesian cardinal recused himself because of ill health.
The conclave process, in which cardinals are locked into their rooms until reaching a decision, was a tradition that began in 1271 following frustration at the failure of the church to agree on a replacement for Pope Clement IV, who died in 1268. Eventually, cardinals were locked inside the papal palace in Viterbo by exasperated magistrates.
Pope John Paul II changed the conclave rules in 1996, allowing cardinals to leave the Sistine Chapel during conclaves to eat and sleep if necessary.
Related:
Inside the Vatican: The $8 billion global institution where nuns answer the phones
Vatican history of 'cover-ups and disarray' will challenge new pope
This story was originally published on Wed Feb 27, 2013 8:44 PM EST
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Einie mienie meinie moe.......
Catch a pope by the toe.
If he hollers, make him pay 50 pedophiles every day.
I'm sure your "god" loves quitters...
You like it so much that you are itching to join?
If not, and not a member already, then what - old geeks living in your moms' basements, recycling someone else's tired quips?
Hmmm seems someone named Peter will be the successor- heard he's from around Rome
So, only Benedict and his successor will know what's in the "super secret report". The next guy will lose all credibility, if he doesn't release it and take action based on it's findings. I'm sure he can blame "the last guy" for all the problems!
Italian press cliams the report is filled with gay sex rings, pedophile cover ups, etc. at the highest levels.
Pope has confirmed this is true by not revealing the report.
Time for the Catholic church to go away.
Don't forget the hot Nazi SS women in thigh-high polished black patent leather boots, ultra-short black shorts, tight red bustier sporting amazing cleavage, snapping whips over the AMAZING POPE HAT. "NO RED SHOES FOR YOU, YOU LITTLE WORM!!"
The problems were not all those good teachings coming from the lord.
But what you heard was been done, that hurt you the most.
......Roseline
....It hides beneath the rose.
The connection and proof that BlackHoles lead to other dimensions and locations in space and that life exists elsewhere in the Universe and just not on Earth.
We know that the blackhole is a very destructive force in the Universe that it consumes all the matter in its path whole solar systems, stars, planets everything reducing even the largest of stars into it's base particles. But with all of the mass that a blackhole consumes the matter must go somewhere.
I would have to theorize that a blackhole is like another destructive force in the Universe. That other force is humanity. Humans are as destructive as the blackhole on a elementary scale comparable to our abilities but humans are just as capable as creating just as the blackhole is.
Comparative overlay
Human figure on the left. The image of the blackhole on the right.
First I will begin with the mouth of the human and the event horizon of the blackhole. Both beings require matter in order to survive. For the human this comes in the form of many types of food. For the blackhole such food comes int the form of stars, planets whole solar systems. Both beings cannot survive with sustanance. Both human and blackhole alike would die without the ability to consume food. Such a consumption causes each body to grow in size and yes both eventually die of old age.
But the most interesting connection is the following.
When a human consumes food the systems of the body break that which has been eaten down into what the body needs on a daily basis the rest is stored. That which cannot be used is passed through the digestive system and out of the body either as urine or stool or sometimes even regurgatation.
A blackhole operates in the same manner. The blackhole consumes all local matter where the matter is digested inside of the event horizon where matter that is consumed becomes part of the ecrition disck and sometimes matter is ejected out of the blackhole in the form of various types of radiation. But the question where does the matter that is digested that isn't stored in the ecrition disk and ejected back into space goto?
For the human the matter that is passed through the body that is not able to be broken down and stored as energy exits the body as either urine or stool. The process of creation however isn't finised there for the remnants of the energy that was consumed by human for the simple fact that stool can be dried out and crushed and used as fertilizer.
This I know for certain from growing up on a farm I spent many Saturdays during the Summer loading the manure spreader. You really don't fully understand the Universe until you shovel cow @!$%# for eight hours a day.
Once the stool is dried out crushed and spread over the ground the enzymes and the microbes in the stool and the ground along with other creatures such as flies sift through the stool looking for particles of food that were passed through the body and out as stool that their bodies then digest the food in the same manner that the human and black hole does thus continuing the circle of life. Microbials in the ground pass what they can't use out into the ground along the flies and other insects where the very small amounts of energy are stored in the ground until a seed comes along and absorbs its energy in order for it too grow into a plant or tree.
The same would have to bee true with a blackhole because humanity was created by the Universe and since the comparisons thus so far have mirrored one another another then a blackhole would also have a digestive track that like the food that our body cannot use as energy the matter that is not able to stored by the blackhole would pass through a conduit and eventually empty out some other place in space time. Like the human stool that is then used by other insects as energy and fertilization for seeds the particles that are passed through the blackhole's conduit would possibly emerge in various parts of the Universe in the form of micro blackholes. Once the micro hole blackhole has deposited the particle mass the particles would be picked up by other particles based upon the particles ability to combine with them to create other particles such as hydrogen, helium, etc that begin the process of creating life once again just like it does on Eart in the above example.
This is comparatively true because like I mentioned humans are born of the Universe and that the natural forces that we see in the Universe like the blackhole are relative to each other and differ only in the type of matter that is consumed. A blackhole consumes all matter and uses it based upon nergetic reactions. Humans on the other hand cannot consume all types of matter but only what is able to be converted into energy by the biological systems of our bodies in order to provide energy for our body to work to perform a function or process for a purpose.
This theory also comparatively proves that humans are not the only life in the Universe. At the same time that the Big Bang occured energetic reactions and combinations of particles that formed the human seed would have been traveling through space and eventually ended up on Earth. The same ring of energy that carried the human seed from the beginning of the Big Bang would also have carried the seed of life for other species of life as well that once they encountered a planet that was able to sustain them the seed would have grown into a life such in the form of a human or otherwise.
This can also once again be comparatively proven just by looking at the human reproductive system. The male releases millions of sperm which in this case would be compared to the energy and particles released during the Big Bang.Such particles then travel the Universe until they come into contact with the egg which is in this case is a planet that is able to support the combination of the sperm to grow a new life. This is true because humans and the Universe are one in the same. So with that being said the possiblity of life existing elsewhere in the Universe is true and not debateable as Earth being the only planet in the Universe capable of sustaining life. If such a notion was true then there would only be one female that was able to give birth. But since there are hundreds of millions of females that can be impregnated and a life grown in the womb then the same notion would of fertile planets existing elsewhere in the Universe is true. Some with life on them others able to sustain life.
Such planets may or may not have life on it based upon the notion that like the fertile male and female that cannot conceive children because of the celluar communication between each gender the process of life and sustainability of life on a planet would still be present.
Like I mentioned before humans are a mirror of the Universe. The same process of life that exists in us is a mirror of how we were created by the Universe which means that life will in fact exist elsewhere in the Universe and not just on Earth.
The only difference between the Universe and Humanity is that humanity has the ability to determine its own fate to make a choice. A choice that should be governed, that needs to be governed by intelligence free of greed and of want of what others have for theirself lest the human remain like the beast that lays in the dirt and slithers to and fro that are like the Universe without the ability to create a higher level of thought except for self loathing and dominance that can never be achieved and will never be achieved by any human for as long as humanity is a presence in the Universe.
"Wow! You mean there might be a whole universe in my thumbnail? ... Far out man!"
Dwight,
Heavy duty post.
Black Holes are creative forces, not destructive forces.
There is a Black Hole at the center of every galaxy. The Black Hole creates the galaxy.
You give human beings far too much credit.
Human being are an extinction event.
Gotta love the images MSNBC posted of the (now thankfully former) Pope. They included one him as a Nazi in WWII's German airforce, although they skipped the Hitler Youth period of his life. What do you want to bet the one they did include gets taken down? WHAT were the Cardinals THINKING when they made him Pope? AND from his speech today, it is clear that in addition to being personally implicated in protecting pedophile priests (as if being a Nazi were not bad enough) he now suffers from dementia. Since God apparently does not control who has this condition, it can, unfortunately, afflict both good and evil people; but, in his case, the latter being true, good riddance to bad garbage!
You must be doing some "holy smoke" to come up with all of that...
Does this whole exercise not resemble the goings on in government? The only difference is the the actual congregation has no say in who gets elected. The back biting and inuendo is just like in normal politics other than the people actually have no voice in the matter. Somewhat reminds me of a classic dictatorship. I have a great idea. Why do we not start taxing these folks like the rest of us get taxed? It would definitely go a long way to reduce the deficit.
Integral,
The only way in which black holes are creative forces are through their immense gravity. The reason there is a black hole at the center of every galaxy is because that is how galaxies are formed. Black holes pull mater towards themselves for inevitable nomnoms but at a certain point enough mass forms up around them that a holding patter is created from opposing gravitational forces. As time passes more mass is added until a galaxy is born. That said, as time goes on the stars that are the balancing force to the SMB at the center explode and the galaxy collapses in upon itself.
Why can't Obama be president AND pope?????
He could be Pope Trojanus the First, and immediately allow abortion, rubbers, and homosexual marriage.
I didn't know a Muslim could be Pope.
<sarc off>
Well if every other piece of @!$%#, child molester can be, why cant the muslims? lol!
Would that make MOOchelle the first Popeess.
She has just the dress for the occasion.
" HO's - R - US " has a dress for any occasion.
With a name like "Dick", some people shouldn't be casting stones at Michelle Obama.
As for "the article"... I've been a "disillusioned Catholic" for some time now. I don't believe the church has the internal capacity to recognize that it is becoming less and less relevant by the day. People used to look to the mysticism of religion to fill the hole that some feel at the center of their being.
Like it or not, the mysticism of religion is one of the few things that attempts to address those questions. The answer, "You started out as dust, became cognizant through birth and will return to unknowing dirt when you die" is not one that many find comfort with - so they seek to fill that void with religion. Unbelievers scoff and the whole "three in one" notion of the Holy Trinity.
As far as I'm concerned, whatever brings peace to your soul is what is appropriate for you.
I've given up caring what happens to "The Church". Morality is taught by word AND deed. The Church is good at getting out the word - but when the deeds don't match up with the words... then it lessens the message - and the Catholic Church has done zero (and I mean zero) to address the failures of deeds.
I'll go back to being a practicing Catholic when:
Unfortunately, I'm not holding my breath. If my beliefs are against God's will, then it will be to him that I answer - and if I am wrong, then hopefully the Lord will understand that my aims were pure. That certainly doesn't mean I'm not going to pray for the Holy Trinity to descend on the Vatican and give the leaders there the wisdom to see that all that their "resistance to change" has achieved is a world moving forward without their guidance.
Well said! I too am a disillusioned Catholic and have been for a long time.....way before the scandels. It was refreshing to read a well thought out comment and not just all the rude, hateful, religious, political off topic regurgitated garbage that has become so common.
Farewell, irrelevant old man, and to your increasingly irrelevant
"church"cult, too. Don't let the golden doors hit you on the way out.Oh, wait, you'll be sequestered for life in the Vatican!
Enjoy your sentence. Perhaps you'll get a room with a window... but I hope not.
God Bless You, Pope Benedict, for having the courage and sincerity to resign.
We can now have another, younger pope, to lead the Catholic Church.
I suggest that the new pope's term should be four years, with an electronic election by the College of Cardinals (117 at last count) every four years thereafter.
This should invigorate the Catholic Church, and make it more responsive to happenings in the world.
"... with an electronic election by the College of Cardinals..."
What, no more "holy smoke"?
Holy Smoke!
Bobb... Your comment proves that you understand that the Papacy is nothing more than politics.
1.2 billion sheep will follow whatever the new dictator says.
Much like Amerikan sheep following obammy, the black sheep "leading" the country?
farmall46
It must be a deep and soul searing pain to have to confess that you believe "black" genes trump "white" genes - right?
You simply cant make this @!$%# up.
It's hysterical to see christianity simply exposed for the @!$%# it really is.
No pope???
May it never be!!! lol!
What is jesus going to think?
Whom is going to wear the @!$%#ing red shoes????
God will not be pleased !!!
There will be storms and pestilence on the land!!!!
How dare the sky fairy favorite, simply up and tell god, "@!$%# you" .
It's scandalous!!
There are blessings to be made!!
Prayer to utter for hours!!!
Children to molest !!!!
Masses to be said!
Red Shoes to be worn !!!
Extravagant living to be enjoyed!!!!!!
Oh, the humanity!
LMAO
If you ever want proof that christianity is simply nothing more than an extreme high school prom, this is it.
If and when you understand the difference between Christianity and catholicism (uncap intentional), please get back to us.
gcooper8
@!$%# of a different flavor...
Shame @!$%#, different day-- was kind of the point, but thanks for taking the bait, einstein.
doret"
"...but thanks for taking the bait, einstein."
Well, it was hard not to, when dealing with a professional Master Baiter such as yourself. It's like waving a red flag at a bull, doncha know.
You are aware, I trust, that there exists the concept of Catholics and Protestants as two separate and diverse ideologies?
Have you heard of Martin Luther? No, not Martin Luther King, but the other one; you know, the author of "Ninety-Five Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences" (Latin: Disputatio pro declaratione virtutis indulgentiarum)."
No, probably you haven't. More's the pity.
But do try to learn about what Christianity means before you use a broad-brush approach to attempt to condemn it with an attack directed at catholic precepts... and you might look more credible.
Well, to some, you might. But based on your response thus far , I ain't gonna hold my breath waiting.
gcooper, disregard doret, he/she/it is one of those "enlightened" ones for whom it is considered acceptable to stereotype and disparage certain large groups of people with overly-broad, extremely ignorant and bigoted remarks. He and his ilk have decided that only THEY, the "enlightened, liberal, non-believing" nuevo-intellectuals, are smart enough to decided what group of people it is acceptable to hate.
Thank goodness doret didn't make similarly intolerant remarks about one of the protected groups, like the muslims or homosexuals, because then his brethren would have replaced his Bigot Badge that holds the Seal of Political Correctness with just the plain-jane badge they issue to everyone that does not agree with them.
And yes, don't hold your breath, because people like doret will NEVER try to educate themselves about that which they blindly hate. They are akin in philosophy to the backward and hateful people who like to sneak around in white sheets.
Or I could be wrong... he could just be a goofy high-school kid who hasn't quite figured out who he is yet and is trying on different beliefs for fit and comfort.
Either way, just ignore him.
If anyone had made most of the comments made on this article about Jews, Muslims, Mormons, homosexual, African Americans, or the Chinese, these comments would be considered hate speech. But Catholics are, of course, exempt from such bigotry. Most of these people are ignorant of what the Catholic Church stands for or about the pedophilia/ephebophilia scandal. As Venerable Fulton Sheen said, “There are not one hundred people in the United States who hate The Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they wrongly perceive the Catholic Church to be.”
Rob... you can defend the centuries of murder, hate, manipulation and pedophilia known as Catholicism all day long but it won't change the truth.
I read comments hating all the groups you mentioned almost daily. We are a world of haters. Catholics have to take their lumps along with all the others.
Rob, you do know the pope is NOT resigning for "health reasons", right?!? There's that little "pope's eyes only" secret report. The pope represents the Catholic Church. There is a problem in the Catholic Church.
And there are millions more who know @!$%# when they see it, Rob. Doesnt really matter if its christian, catholic or otherwise, its still @!$%#.
Get a clue.
And you would be right, it is hate speech and he deserves every word of it.
Rob Cui:
Do you happen to recall a little soiree lovingly referred to by the Catholic
"church"cult with the sobriquet "The Inquisition" (Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis; Inquiry on Heretical Perversity)???I'd wager not. Nor do so many members of the "one true church."
Trust me, our loathing, disdain, and rejection of the Catholic
"church"cult stems from a defense of Christianity and nothing more. It is not directed at its members as a whole; only the unapologetic ones.The puritans in salem were not blameless on that account. Witch hunts anyone. It's all religious cults because all religion is a cult.
Wow, no one ever expects the Spanish inquisition....
They need a crack the whip, git 'er done kind of pope. Have they considered Mel Gibson?
If it were offered to Obama, think he would refuse ?
Maybe those attending this time will have learned a lesson: Do not rig the vote. It would also help if they elected someone young enough and healthy enough to make decisions on his own and who understands the contemporary world. The day they tried the Butler for Vatican crimes and leaks was the final straw. A person with barely an elementary education could NOT have been behind that caper. To even suggest it was an insult to our intelligence. Get real and elect someone who is.
What gets me is that it is the idea that the Catholic church, which places so much importance on the Pope, is allowing, or would allow, the vacancy before a new Pope is at least elected. They couldn't convene a conclave and elect a new Pope or Pope Benedict is in such ill health he couldn't keep the seat until a new one was elected in so short a time?
Um, March 10 this year is on a Sunday, so if they won't be beginning until March 10 is on a Monday the Catholic Church will have a VERY long wait for a new Pope.
He should be have been let out at the nearest bus stop and with just the clothes on back. What a disgusting person. It's common knowledge he knew and covered up the rampant pedophilia going on in the catholic church and sat back and did nothing. He's about as godly as Madeline O'hare.
My church is on a self-created suicide mission.
Pedophile priests and bishops are are sucking the Church dry with lawsuits. The Church has been a safe haven for centuries for pedophile priests. Fortunately, most victims are too embarassed to come forward thereby limiting the lawsuits.
Single, celibate priests are diminishing in number creating a management and staffing crisis in the Church.
But tradition is more important than function. Any doctor with a dying patient who refuses to administer a known cure because of some questionable tradition would be promptly removed from the medical profession. Unfortunately, we have no controls over Bishops, Cardinals or Popes.
On the plus side, Galileo was convicted of heresy in the 1600s for insisting that the earth revolved around the sun, contradicting Church teachings. Fortunately he was not burned at the stake. In 1995 the Church exonerated Galileo. So, if we just hang in there for 300 years and have faith, all will be well.
And I used to think that God gave us a brain in the expectation that we would use it.
Have you ever considered joining a different Christian church that makes more sense to you?
Why the Pope Really Resigned
www.pointsincase.com/columns/andrei-trostel/why-pope-really-resigned
Fantastic! His Holiness will live in the lap of luxury the rest of his life! However, in the United States of America, 80 to 90 year old priests are still saying Mass, servicing parishes, and unable to retire because the priesthood in America is so decimated due to ever weakening membership numbers, departures from the faith, youth who cannot commit to the Church as it is presented currently, pedophile priests, a majority of the priests reaching retirement age, etc.
And yet, we don't need married priests, women priests, and nuns should stay home and shut up. This guy has done more to harm the church than any Pope in the past 600 years. It is very fitting that he follow suit and retire into a luxurious lifestyle and be waited on hand and foot by women of the convent.
He should have been Pope Benedict VI-VI-VI.
What do you get when 117 perverts conclave ?
Every one of them were well aware of perverts being moved from parish to parish .
This may well be the first Pervert Pope being elected.
Although some popes before him have done worse.
Many middle ages popes had very colorful lives.
Their biggest question is whether to come out of the closet or not.
The way Henry VIII took care of the Pope issue was literally the removal of "heads of State", Thomas Moore being an example of one who chose his love of God over his love of king. Then Henry converted the Catholic church's wealth to cannons for the English Navy, the Catholic church's language Latin, to the Bible written in English, the school system from one taught by monks, to a school system taught by "king friendly" instructors, and a world dominated by industrial development and scientific inquiry was on its feet and operating. Those nations who chose otherwise have remained wannabes.
If you wish to remain in a mindset of 1500's pomp, ceremony, and court intrigue, there are intellectual and social costs to pay. Long gone are the days when illuminated manuscripts depicting hierarchy links to heavenly bliss were the "knowledge" of the day. The "bling" of the Catholic Church trappings is not blinding inquiring investigations of the many interested in the crimes, for the sake of clearing up the crimes, not saving the church's social standing. Since the Reformation there are numerous Christian religions to choose from, not just Henry VIII's or Pope Benedict's version.
Many of these Christian religions were designed so the believers of them could "cut in line" for an audience with Jesus, ahead of the lines of access laid down in the gilded manuscripts of pope and king libraries. What about the Lutheran's, or the Methodist's, Calvanist's, Baptist's, Mennonite's, etc., faiths? There are non denominational Believers, just as there are Non Believers to account for.
In some religions of the world, such as Islam, the solution is "removing heads" literally like Henry VIII did. Some of Henry VIII's behavior could be compared to the modern day Taliban in that respect. The Church on the other hand needs a king, not a secular democracy, so a chosen faith can receive chosen favors in wealth and lands, for its buildings, its monks, and its protection. The idea is, the common people provide the food and resources to support the army, and the army in turn protects the church. The church in turn indoctrinates the common people to feed the army which protects it.
Sounds like a lot of Catholic envy here today. You guys sound every bit as bad as the evangelical freaks on TV with your frenzied hate for Catholicism. Many pots calling kettles black.....very entertaining.
It would be a pleasant surprise if the conclave chose a cardinal from Latin America, Africa or Asia to be the next pope.
Given the very large percentage of Catholics who live in non-European countries, to continue to only select popes from white European nations would show a lack of respect and value for their ethnically diverse flock of Catholics. Do they view the non-Caucasian Catholic worshipers (and their priests, archbishops and cardinals) as less than equals? To continue to want to control multitudes of people in third world countries from a powerful perch in Vatican City would seem reminiscent of imperialism.
Cal-Chi, there are some 19 Cardinals from the entire Latin America (representing close to half a billion faithful from there) while from Italy alone there are 27. What are the chances?
However also in my opinion, if another outsider is elected (John Paul II was the first recent one - outgoing to the world and much liked for that but sparsely interested in running the governments or in the overall machinations of the factions within Vatican, which allowed the cliques to run amuck; followed now by Benedict who was quite aloof and allowed the already bad situation to get even worse) then it will be obvious that the new "leader" will have been elected only to preserve the current status quo, to be manipulated even further, and to do nothing to clean up the house.
What Vatican needs today is an Italian insider with the will to fix the problems. The question is, do they have an honest man with a backbone and enough connections to fill those red shoes?
Wonder if God is tired of all this sh!t yet? Next pope will more than likely be W European? 28 or 29 of the 115 Cardinals are Italian. Rest are mostly from Europe. Too bad they can't cancel the conclave due to a lack of interest?