I have spent the weekend trying to figure out about which names echoing out at St. Peter’s would make me happy (like I was in 2005) and which would worry me. In 2005, I had a clear favorite and he became Pope. This time around, things are much murkier. The names that would make me most happy, like Burke, seem like long shots.
So I thought I would turn to you. Which Cardinals do you like for Pope and why? What are their chances? Which candidates are you most worried about and why? And What are their chances?
I am truly interested. I will copy some of the more interesting and well thought out commentary into the body of this post.
So let’s hear it!
Update
It seems the consensus here would like to hear this:
Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum:
Habemus Papam!
Eminentissimum ac reverendissimum Dominum,
Dominum Reimundus Sanctæ Romanæ Ecclesiæ Cardinalem Burke,
Qui sibi nomen imposuit Pius XIII.
March 11, 2013 at 3:58 pm
This might seem really way out there, but I think the new Pope will be someone completely hidden and a complete surprise. And what would be more surprising than an Eastern rite Pope? I'm thinking this because of the great need to heal the schism, the 1000th anniversary of which will be here in 2054, a mere 41 years away.
I think it will be Patriarch Bechara Boutros (Peter) al-rahi of the Maronite rite.
March 11, 2013 at 4:19 pm
My candidate is Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Patriarch of the Ukranian Greek Catholic Church. He's 42 and not even a Cardinal yet, but there's something different about his guy. And wouldn't it be neat to have one pope for the next fifty or sixty years?
March 11, 2013 at 4:21 pm
American Pope? Probably not going to happen. America is too much hated internationally to permit such a thing. Shall the Church draw the ire and violence that American politics and nationalism inspires on itself and consequently, all its members internationally? I love being American but lets be realistic!
March 11, 2013 at 4:22 pm
Cardinal O'Malley.
1.)My understanding is that he is simply a very holy man.
2.)I find it refreshing that he goes under the blogosphere radar.
3) Anyone that can turn around the "ground zero" diocese of Boston must be pretty special.
4.)He would be very capable of reaching out to the latino community.
5.) As Cardinal he was assigned the titular church of Santa Maria della Vittorio, home to the famous "Ecstasy of Saint Teresa", by Bernini. That is very cool.
March 11, 2013 at 5:04 pm
Please, no. Boston Mass attendance is down to 16% and nearly half the parishes are in the red.
"Cardinal Seán" (gotta include that accent mark) is a relatively passive and aloof figure presiding over, but not governing, the expensive diocesan curia. Probably some curial cardinals would like that!
And during the big round of parish closings and mergers, he wrote that he sometimes wanted God to take him home. Do we want a Pope with a tendency to depression?
March 11, 2013 at 4:56 pm
Burke! (Though I'd love to see the UGCC Patriarch elected, if that was possible; maybe he'd finally get rid of the last bits of forced-Latinization still hanging around after VII.)
Any other American Pope would sorely tempt me to join the sedes or Eastern Orthodox >_>
March 11, 2013 at 5:01 pm
Cardinal Burke is a great inspirer and example. He is obviously holy and one of very few Bishops to regularly offer Mass in the traditional, ancient, unadulterated form. His book on the Eucharist – Divine Love Made Flesh – ought to be read by every serious Catholic or catechumen.
March 11, 2013 at 5:07 pm
Cardinal Raymond Burke would be awesome. He seems like he would be a strong, no-nonsense typ of pope.
March 11, 2013 at 5:19 pm
I'm nowhere near the first to say this, and I think he is a long shot, but I would love to see Raymond Cardinal Burke elected as pope.
Of the cardinals who have been discussed as leading contenders, I have reservations about Turkson, Sandri, Scherer, Dolan, O'Malley, Schoenborn, and Tagle. I think that Ouellet or Scola might be good, or even great, but I don't know enough about them to be sure. Ravasi sounds interesting, but I don't know a lot about him either.
March 11, 2013 at 6:16 pm
Ever since Papa Ben announced his resignation I upped my daily Rosary to include all 20 mysteries, offering the extra flaring of my sciatic up to GOD in the fervent hope that the next Pope he gifts us with will continue to lead the Church out of present darkness. I'm always careful to acknowledge in my prayers that the choice is GOD's and GOD's alone, but I know he hears the Burke! Burke!! BURKE!!! behind each beat of my heart!
March 11, 2013 at 6:24 pm
I wonder how many people who like/dislike Card. Dolan listen to him on The Catholic Channel, and how that changes their opinion of him? I ask b/c I think that if I did not listen to him weekly on XM, maybe I would have a different opinion of him. I don't think it's that he has a strong will to be liked, or that he just wants to appease everyone. I think he has a genuine love for all people, and desperately wants them to have the same experience of Christ that he does, but wants them to come to it gladly. Also, I heard somewhere that when he was in Rome with the college, he specifically told the American seminarians that they need to be the face of a joyful church, because many of the Italians were so dour. That was part of their instructions as seminarians to be the face of a joyful Christ in the public eye. What better evangelization is it to see a person so full of joy for their faith? I don't know, part of me really wants either him or Burke, but I know that whomever God has planned will be what we need.
March 11, 2013 at 8:43 pm
I have two preferences: Ranjith -no comment necessary- and Bagnasco -disciple of Siri and master of the wasp net that is the Italian Bishop's Conference- I wish I knew more of the congolese Cardinal (seems to have something special in him).
I wish for a very global position for Dolan. The more I read of him, the more i like his style. He hasn't the stuff for a Pope, but for the Great Missionary to the West.
Burke as State Secretary ??
BTW. Cañizares (Llovera) is too small -not only physically. ; and worse, too close to the NeoCathecumenals
March 11, 2013 at 9:19 pm
"On the contrary, I love a feisty saint. Cardinal Dolan is not one. He is not fierce in fighting evil but rather tries to be popular with the political and Media elite. And he is not sufficiently humble and reverent while offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. He is a performer; he makes things about himself, not God."
I don't seem in him even a trace of those things you are talking about. Dolan has held the line (and holds the other U.S. Bishops to the line) on the HHS mandate. He does not back down one iota on principles.
Yes, he is popular with the press – and how does he use his popularity? The other week in Rome, he celebrated Mass for and with journalists in the grottoes of St. Peter's basilica, a truly extraordinary move. He used his homily to tell them what the Church is about and what kind of "change" she needs – the interior change of personal conversion. He's become friends with unchurched journalists like Matt Lauer – who has said that Dolan led him to consider spiritual things in a new light. He is using his popularity with the media in an extraordinary way. Not for his own popularity. I am praying for a Pope who can communicate with the media like Dolan does.
As for his reverence at Mass, I think he is fine. To each his own.
I honestly don't think he'll be elected, at least not this time. But the Church definitely needs him and more like him.
March 11, 2013 at 9:25 pm
Lori, a lot of it has to do with inviting Obama to the Al Smith Dinner (despite the fact that both of Dolan's predecesor refused to invite candidates who supported legalized abortion), his handling of sex predators in Milwaukee and his defense of the Catholic Church during the sex-abuse crisis (I remember him saying during Holy Week last year that, while the Church deserves criticism, it wasn't the only organization implicated in such abuse. While that's technically true, that's exactly the wrong tack for a church claiming to have "the fullness of the Gospel" to take.).
I don't think Dolan fully realized just how morally compromised the clerical sex-abuse crisis made the Catholic Church. Frankly, I don't think the vast majority of cardinals worldwide realize that, either.
As far as "teaching the faith" goes, two points:
1. Isn't that one of the things that supposedly made John Paul II "Great"?
2. I'm sick and tired of talk, talk, talk. I want somebody who lives out the faith in daily life! Is that too much to ask for a cardinal, let alone a pope?
March 11, 2013 at 11:59 pm
Well, this gave me a headache reading it, especially some of the more self righteous prose. That said…who do I want for pope? Whomever Christ does…His motives I trust.
March 12, 2013 at 2:21 am
Fr David Byers of Holy Souls Hermitage blog has a great piece on why we should pray and sacrifice for a good Pope. Edifying. He also has another one where he hopes it'll be Cardinal Burke.
March 12, 2013 at 4:54 pm
My gut says it will be Turkson, but I'd really like it to be Dolan.
Another part of my gut says they will play safe and go for Scola.
March 12, 2013 at 7:45 pm
Joseph, Cardinal Egan, Dolan's predecessor, did invite both candidates in 2008.
And I suppose Dolan did have a bad record in regard to sex abuse cases – if SNAP press releases are your Bible, that is. Have they been able to find anything incriminating against him other than they didn't like his tone?
Dolan has apologized on behalf of the Church and said many times that the Church invites full scrutiny. He was right to defend Pope Benedict's innocence and to point out the widespread nature of the abuse throughout society. We should never be afraid to point out the truth, however inconvenient it is to some pressure group or other. How many actual victims felt hurt or slighted by anything he said, and how much was just SNAP? (a deeply suspect operation, who masks an anti-Church agenda under the pretense of caring for victims, while making greedy lawyers rich. Many victims themselves are starting to realize this).
March 12, 2013 at 9:28 pm
As long as he is orthodox…and from Wisconsin.