THE NEXT POPE

Pope Francis died at the age of 88 on Easter Monday.  He made a valiant effort to modernize the Catholic Church to make it relevant for the 21st century.  Promoted unity among Catholics and called upon the church to embrace its global diversity.  Comments are mixed about his actual effectiveness.

From Time magazine:

T

he film Conclave begins with the death of the Pope. It then follows the chain of events from that moment to the election of a new Pope, following a few characters—portrayed by a cast that won the top honor at the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

A 2024 film based on the 2016 novel by Robert Harris, stars Ralph Fiennes as the cardinal who organizes the conclave, Stanley Tucci as a liberal American cardinal candidate, John Lithgow as a moderate Canadian cardinal, sort of the villain, and Isabella Rosselini, a sister who serves as the conclave's head caterer and housekeeper.  Earned 93/86 ratings from Rotten Tomatoes.  Movie received eight nominations at the 97th Academy Awards, including best picture.  You can watch it on Peacock.

What are the prospects of a Black or Asian Pope?  Historical records show anywhere from zero to three previous Black popes:

The Church's records tell us there were potentially three Black popes in Catholic history: Pope Victor I, who headed the church from 189-199, Pope Miltiades (311-314), and Pope Gelasius I, who was pope from 492-496.

Twelve years ago I posted, WILL THE NEXT POPE BE BLACK?  Peter Turkson, 76, born in Ghana, showed some potential when Francis was selected pope, and again comes up in discussions.  

Robert Sarah, 79, a conservative from French Guinea is another possibility.

The last Asian pope was Saint Gregorius III, who died in 741.  He was from Syria, and surely did not look "Asian."

The reality is that there has never been an Asian pope.  However, there is a possible candidate in Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, 67.  At one time he showed promise, but his chances seemed to have faded.

According to OddsChecker, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, 70, below photo, is now the favorite.  He is the closest continuity candidate, having worked as Pope Francis Secretary of State.  Yet, his star has fallen a little thanks to his being the architect of the 2018 agreement between the Holy See and China, which some regard as a sell-out to the Chinese Communist Party.  (There is a column further to the right that also shows Implied Probability.  Should you wish to see that info, click on the above link, or go to my new blog option.)

Next Pope Odds

Next Pope	Best Odds	Implied Probability
Pietro Parolin	9/4	31%
Luis Antonio Tagle	3/1	25%
Peter Turkson	7/1	13%
Matteo Zuppi	7/1	13%

In my SIMPLE SOLUTIONS for Humanity, the final chapter on The Golden Evolution surmised:

Strive towards a universal religion with one God. Good, the Irish Republican Army has taken that important first initial step towards reconciling the Protestant versus Catholic dilemma in Northern Ireland. The Cardinals should begin to groom a stunning, female, Chinese as a future Pope candidate. Combining all—one God, common dogma—a United Religions of the World, would be a worthy and magnificent challenge. Better yet, leap over that step and agree on no god.

But for the present, the new conclave will be selected and send out the white smoke sometime in May.  In 2013, 76-year old Jorge Mario Bergoglio became the 266th Pope, and first non-European Pope in over 1200 years.  Bergoglion took the name of Saint Francis of Assisi.

There are 135 eligible cardinal electors, 108, or 80%, appointed by Pope Francis.  

• This is the first time the number of voters will exceed the cap of 120.  However it is unlikely that 15 cardinals will be deleted from the process.
• In 2013, 51% of cardinals were European.  This percentage has this year dropped to 39%.
• Why are there now so many cardinals?  Pope Francis appointed cardinals from 25 countries that had never before had one.
• Two frontrunners are Pietro Parolin, who is the highest-ranking cardinal in the conclave, and Luis Antonio Tagle, who is said to be particularly charismatic.
• The winner needs two-thirds of cardinal votes.
• Let me go out on a limb and pick the next pope:  Filipino Cardinal Tagle would then become the first Asian Pope.

Well, life goes on.  This is now Day 8 of our journey.  We are in Yokohama, as a rest point before we board the Oceania Riviera on Day 9.  Dinner last night was in our Club Lounge, where in addition to other stuff, they were serving ramen, plus Shanghai Soup Dumplings.  The cuisine on the Riviera will almost surely not offer Japanese nor Chinese dishes, so we are feasting up on these asiatic offerings.

Our view was towards Tokyo at sunset.

Stayed there for more than three hours, so had a third ramen/dumpling combo.

The breakfast buffet at the Sheraton Yokohama Bay Hotel is excellent.  Here is a video, and if you click on it, the ending is messed up because I forgot to turn the camera off and the last few seconds were nonsense.

Tomorrow, on to Vancouver via the Oceania Riviera.

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