The present decline is one thing, but the future decline and extinction of the secular west is demographically assured. The future of the Church is in Africa and the Americas. Of course we should not give up on the West, and God could save it tomorrow. But I think wisdom shows a different path for the Church. A path that looks west and south of Europe. At least until the current and next few generations of westerners die off.
And why not a non European pope? I remember the first time I heard Pope Benedict giving an address in English how that meant a lot to me. What if we had a Nigerian, Honduran, or Canadian pope? I think it sends an important message to the global Church when the head of that Church is elected from where that Church actually is located, which in 2013, is everywhere in the world but Italy. So here are my desires and predictions for the next pope. The first few are in order of desire, the Italians are just on the list as being likely, particularly the first 3. Notice Dolan is not on the list. Way too boisterous to be pope. The Italians in the Vatican would never put up with him.
Raymond Leo Burke
Raymond Leo Burke is an American Cardinal of the Holy Catholic Church. He is the current Cardinal Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, having previously served as Archbishop of St. Louis and Bishop of La Crosse.
Born: June 30, 1948 (age 64), Richland Center
Education: The Catholic University of America, Pontifical Gregorian University
Marc Cardinal Ouellet
Marc Ouellet, PSS is a Canadian Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the present prefect of the Congregation for Bishops and concurrently president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.
Born: June 8, 1944 (age 68), La Motte, Quebec
Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson is a Ghanaian Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the current president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
Born: October 11, 1948 (age 64), Ghana
Education: Pontifical Biblical Institute
Speaks English, Fante, French, Italian, German, and Hebrew, in addition to understanding Latin and Greek.
Francis Cardinal Arinze
Francis Arinze is an Igbo Nigerian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He is Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, having served as prefect from 2002 to 2008. WikipediaBorn: November 1, 1932 (age 80), Onitsha
Education: Pontifical Urbaniana University
Óscar Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga
Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, SDB is a Honduran Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the current Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, President of Caritas Internationalis and was President of the Latin American Episcopal Conference from 1995 to 1999.
Angelo Bagnasco
Angelo Bagnasco is an Italian Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He currently serves as Archbishop of Genoa and President of the Italian Episcopal Conference, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 2007.
Born: January 14, 1943 (age 70), Pontevico
Angelo Cardinal Scola
Born: November 7, 1941 (age 71), Malgrate
Tarcisio Pietro Evasio Bertone, S.D.B. is an Italian prelate and diplomat. A cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, he currently serves as Cardinal Secretary of State.
Born: December 2, 1934 (age 78), Romano Canavese
Giovanni Battista Cardinal Re
Giovanni Battista Re is an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church whose service has been primarily in the Roman Curia. He is the Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for Bishops
Born: January 30, 1934 (age 79), Borno
Gianfranco Ravasi
Gianfranco Ravasi is an Italian prelate, a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He currently serves in the Roman Curia as President of the Pontifical Council for Culture. On 20 November 2010 Ravasi was created cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI.
Born: October 18, 1942 (age 70), Merate
Angelo Amato
For further reading:
http://www.businessinsider.com/meet-the-man-who-will-be-the-next-pope-2012-4?op=1
Books: Divine likeness
Education: Université de Montréal, Grand séminaire de Montréal
Peter Cardinal Turkson
Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson is a Ghanaian Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the current president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
Born: October 11, 1948 (age 64), Ghana
Education: Pontifical Biblical Institute
Speaks English, Fante, French, Italian, German, and Hebrew, in addition to understanding Latin and Greek.
Francis Cardinal Arinze
Francis Arinze is an Igbo Nigerian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He is Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, having served as prefect from 2002 to 2008. WikipediaBorn: November 1, 1932 (age 80), Onitsha
Education: Pontifical Urbaniana University
Óscar Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga
Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, SDB is a Honduran Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the current Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, President of Caritas Internationalis and was President of the Latin American Episcopal Conference from 1995 to 1999.
Angelo Bagnasco
Angelo Bagnasco is an Italian Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He currently serves as Archbishop of Genoa and President of the Italian Episcopal Conference, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 2007.
Born: January 14, 1943 (age 70), Pontevico
Angelo Cardinal Scola
Angelo Scola is an Italian Cardinal of the Catholic Church, philosopher and theologian. He was appointed Archbishop of Milan by Pope Benedict XVI on 28 June 2011. He had previously served as Patriarch of Venice since 2002.
Born: November 7, 1941 (age 71), Malgrate
Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone
Tarcisio Pietro Evasio Bertone, S.D.B. is an Italian prelate and diplomat. A cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, he currently serves as Cardinal Secretary of State.
Born: December 2, 1934 (age 78), Romano Canavese
Giovanni Battista Cardinal Re
Giovanni Battista Re is an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church whose service has been primarily in the Roman Curia. He is the Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for Bishops
Born: January 30, 1934 (age 79), Borno
Gianfranco Ravasi
Gianfranco Ravasi is an Italian prelate, a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He currently serves in the Roman Curia as President of the Pontifical Council for Culture. On 20 November 2010 Ravasi was created cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI.
Born: October 18, 1942 (age 70), Merate
Angelo Amato
Angelo Amato, S.D.B. is a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and serves as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. He served as Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from 2002 to 2008.
Born: June 8, 1938 (age 74), Molfetta
For further reading:
http://www.businessinsider.com/meet-the-man-who-will-be-the-next-pope-2012-4?op=1
No list of Papal candidates would be complete without Cardinal Peter Erdo of Hungary. I think he stands a good chance. I'd rate the favorites as Erdo, Turkson, Ouellet and Scola in roughly that order. I strongly suspect the elected Pope will be under 70 years of age. Who knows, though?
ReplyDeleteI would also love to see Cardinal Burke, as you mentioned. I don't think it'll happen, but it will be quite an interesting conclave.
It's sad to say goodbye to Pope Benedict XVI, but he again shows his brilliance by his decision to step down when he feels he can no longer govern the Church effectively. He certainly did govern effectively during his 8 years. The quality of bishops being selected went way up under his reign, and the Church is in much better shape thanks to his wise attention to that area.
Amen.
ReplyDeleteGood list. I would be happy with any of them.
Yes. I am sad to see him go as well. But a positive aspect (of which there are a few big ones) of the resignation is that future potential popes may now feel more comfortable resigning now that there is a modern precident. This may improve the pool of potential popes if it is more accepted that they could serve for 5 years and then retire. Could that give us more theologians like B16 if they can see a light at the end of the tunnel and not feel as though they had to work such a demanding job right down to their final moments on earth. God forbid a pope would become mentaly incompitent for the last few years of his pontificate, but that is a possibility. Not that he would be able to teach error from the chair, but he could certainly do a lot of damage through neglect of a functioning papal office.
ReplyDelete