Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, the Cardinal Archbishop of Milan, is the leading Italian papabile according to many.
HERE’S SPECULATION + A BACKGROUNDER ON HIM.
EXCERPTS:
Dionigi Cardinal Tettamanzi of Milan is the odds-on favorite of every bookmaker taking wagers on the next Pope.
[T]he popular cardinal might be pleased that he’s in the lead at 3-to-1, given that one of the biggest knocks against him is that he’s campaigning too hard for the job.
I’d be a little cautious around claims of this nature. For one, the reporter gives no indication of having done a global survey of bookmakers, yet claims "every bookmaker taking wagers on the next Pope" ranks him at the top.
Second, "odds-on" means "having a better than 50% chance of happening," and I’d be very surprised if every bookmaker in the world were giving any cardinal a better than 50% chance of being elected.
Third, Paddy Power (a bookmaker) is currently listing Arinze as the most likely, with 11-4 odds, compared to Tettamanzi with 7-2 odds, so not every bookmaker is doing what the reporter says.
So be careful about such overdramatic claims (both regarding odds and elsewhere in the article).
What about Ratzinger ?
His homily was wonderful, and what I read of him, very deep. I’ve heard he is a theologian of genius.
However, I’ve never seen his name in “papabile” lists .
“…he’s campaigning too hard for the job.”
Are there really Cardinals campaigning to be Pope? It seems to me that the man who wants it most would be the LAST man to actually choose for Pope!
I’m not aware of any evidence that Cardinal Tettamanzi is campaigning to become Pope. The best way to keep yourself from being elected Pope is to campaign for the office.
And I have seen Cardinal Ratzinger’s name among lists of papabile. I wouldn’t mind it if he were elected, but I also wouldn’t mind it if Tettamanzi were elected, or Arinze, or . . . . well, I’ll take whoever the Holy Spirit chooses. Anyway, a Ratzinger papacy would be a short one, which may be why some favor him — some cardinals may not want a younger Pope who would have a long reign. Ratzinger is also orthodox and has a deep grasp of the faith. He might make a good “interim” Pope.
“I’ll take whoever the Holy Spirit chooses”
I wholeheartly agree !
About interim pope, that’s always make me smiling…
Perhaps I’m wrong, but the last “interim” pope was John XXIII; and the job he did can really be called a job of “interim” papacy : the Holy Spirit have the last word ! 😉
How ’bout Arinzee? He wouldn’t mind ‘rolling heads’ which is what we need now. Ratzinger is the obvious choice.
~Kosh
Sorry, I wanted to write in my previous post :
“Perhaps I’m wrong, but the last “interim” pope was John XXIII; and the job he did CAN’T really be called a job of “interim” papacy : the Holy Spirit have the last word ! ;-)”
I don’t find bookmakers’ odds to be very helpful in many situations. If you’re really interested in the popular likelihood of any particular papabile, check out Tradesports.com (in the Current Events section). Since it’s a “stock” exchange, the odds are (slightly) more meaningful.
Currently, Cardinal Tettamanzi is “trading” at a 23% likelihood, while Cardinal Arinze is at 15.5%. So there’s definitely no odds-on favorite.
As a follow-up, I should also note that on Tradesports, even though 17 candidates can be traded, “the field” (i.e., someone other than the popularly discussed candidates being elected) is trading at 19%! A good number of people think an outsider has a good chance.
I’m not speculating on whomever may be the next Pope…I find the whole idea unsavoury.
But that’s just my own personal opinion, I don’t wish to offend those of you who do 🙂
God Bless
I wouldn’t say that Tettamanzi is actively “campaigning” to become pope, but if he was, that would make two of them. I heard Cardinal Daneels has explicitly said he wanted to be Pope.
Once, many, many weeks ago, on an EWTN program, when he happened to be debunking certain (unnamed) theologians who claim Jesus was not aware of Himself as being the Son of God, Fr. Benedict Groschel opined humoroulsy to the effect that while he had no ambitions, nor particular qualifications for becoming Pope, he wouldn’t mind being elected for 10 minutes or so just to have the opportunity to personally excommunicate the promulgators of such wrong-headed thinking.
Here, here!
But, if the world is not ready for a black Pope, it is probably much less ready for one from Brooklyn.
All humor and chatter/speculation aside, may we all sit still, trust, and “Be not afraid!” that the Holy Spirit will give us the successor to St. Peter we absolutely need, and none other.
I think that the next pope will be from Asia, Africa or Central/South America. He will be older, moderate/conservative and known as having administrative talent. He will have been known as a trusted co-worker of JPII.
That leaves Cards. F. Arinze, C. Hummes, A. Lopez Trujillo and D. Castrillon Hoyos.
Ouside shot?
Card. J.M Bergoglio; super “catholic,” not great “roman” on his resume.
Card. J. Ratzinger; possible steady older “interm” pope if front runners stall.
Ouside-outside shot? Card. F. George; international reputation as a strong bishop who has the misfortune of being an American.
I don’t foresee many changes regardless of who becomes pope. The American episcopate is what is. Things should really be interesting in about 20 years when all the 60’s relics are gone.
I don’t foresee many changes regardless of who becomes pope. The American episcopate is what is. Things should really be interesting in about 20 years when all the 60’s relics are gone.
I don’t foresee many changes regardless of who becomes pope. The American episcopate is what is. Things should really be interesting in about 20 years when all the 60’s relics are gone.
The wisdom of God is folly to [bookies, media analysists]. I can’t wait to see who’s on deck!
I heard that when JPI was elected, the media went, “who is this guy?” and scrambled for info.
Not to be outdone this time, after JPI’s death, the media did much more research (on presumably, Italian cardinals).
Then, amonth later, when JPII was elected, the media went, “who is this guy?” and scrambled for info.
Hee hee!
Whimsy
***waits for someone to trot out the tired in-a-pope-out-a-cardinal adage.***
Anyway, correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems that even on the long list of contenders, they all seem to be decent choices. That is, no modernist wingnuts that would send the faithful running for the hills. 🙂
Scott
The problem (or to put it nicely, need for faith) can bw put thus: a pope can do anything he wants. He is not constrained by prior education, training, writings, actions… Kind of like a supreme court judge, but there are more of them. Soooo, just like flying in an airliner at 30,000 feet, with any pope, any schooling or background, we are in God’s hands.
I think that JP The Great kinda re-defined the Papacy. What a pope has to do, what he is responsible for, etc.
So a pope will have to comform to that.
Pedantic nitpicky schoolmarmish question:
Isn’t it “papabile” only in the singular?
If you’re talking about more than one popable hopeful, I believe the word is “papabili.”
But I could be wrong. It’s been known to happen, although not often. 😉
Italian-American Mamma
Pedantic nitpicky schoolmarmish question:
Isn’t it “papabile” only in the singular?
If you’re talking about more than one popable hopeful, I believe the word is “papabili.”
But I could be wrong. It’s been known to happen, although not often. 😉
Italian-American Mamma
Regarding Cardinals campaigning for Pope: we need only remember the look on poor Paul VI’s face when he appeared at the loggia of St. Peter’s for the Urbi et Orbi to realize that “candidates” rarely get it.
I thought the most wonderful part of the whole article on Tettamanzi is that his mother is still alive. That would be quite an interesting thing, to have the Pope’s mother still around.
Much talk about the Holy Spirit being in charge of the outcome! Jesus, it seems to me, spoke interchangeably concerning the Holy Spirit and The Spirit of Truth. I’m not all that sure that the Spirit of Truth (i.e. that which is most reasonable to believe about spiritual matters) has much of a chance when one is dealing with a group of elderly religiously/dogmatically closed minded men . . . yet, even from outside the fold, I would certainly agree that God’s will will be done, but it will be based, imo, on what is best for the world, rather than what is best for the Catholic Community within the world. Blessings – Chuck
I’ll take whoever the Holy Spirit chooses.
I don’t think it’s an article of the Faith that the Holy Ghost takes an active role in choosing the Pope. He might take a passive role and allow the Cardinals to choose a bad Pope in order to punish the Church (and goodness knows we deserve it!). It wouldn’t be the first time and probably not the last, either.
Of course we are not free to reject the Pope, but I don’t see that we’re not permitted to question the Cardinals’ choice.
I don’t think it’s an article of the Faith that the Holy Ghost takes an active role in choosing the Pope. He might take a passive role and allow the Cardinals to choose a bad Pope in order to punish the Church (and goodness knows we deserve it!). It wouldn’t be the first time and probably not the last, either.
Alexander the VI and many of the other Renaissance popes would be prime examples of this.
but I don’t see that we’re not permitted to question the Cardinals’ choice.
I should hope not, given some of the really bad popes the church has had!