Papal Contenders

It's here...the early morning of the papal conclave!  All 115 cardinal electors will celebrate mass at St. Peter's Basilica.  Then into the Sistine Chapel they will go and the deliberations will begin.  For the next few days, the whole world will be watching the chimney, hoping for the white smoke which will show that a two-thirds majority has been reached regarding someone.  So who will the new pope be? 

Guessing the new pope is difficult to do considering that if a two-thirds majority cannot be reached, other candidates who are not quite front runners will emerge.  Below, I will list some of the stronger contenders and my own opinion on them. 

One of the top two contenders is Cardinal Angelo Scola, a  71 year old Italian cardinal.  A win for him, would bring the papacy back to Italy (the last two have not been Italian, an odd occurrence in an Italian-dominated position).  He is conservative and very theologically similar to the emeritus pope. 

The other top contender is Cardinal Odilo Scherer, a 63 year old cardinal from Brazil.  Cardinal Scherer is currently seen as Latin America's top choice for the papacy.  He has an impressive resume and even likes to Tweet.  My issues:  He takes very hard-line stances when it comes to same sex civil unions and abortion, to which he is adamantly opposed.  At the same time he strongly fights for social justice and has criticized the Brazilian government regarding the depletion of the Amazon jungle.  It's hard for me since I have liberal leanings on social issues and would love to see a pope with such leanings.  Cardinal Scherer would fall on the liberal side of certain issues but at the same time he could hurt other rights.  I still find him to be an intriguing candidate since let's face it - this is the Catholic Church.  There really are no liberal candidates for the pope.  As a Latin American Catholic, I would love to see a pope from my region. 

Another strong candidate is Cardinal Marc Ouellet, a 68 year old Canadian cardinal.  He is President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.  Cardinal Ouellet is described as a conservative.  He has spoken out against gay rights and abortion and has also been criticized for not speaking out against the sexual abuse scandals.  I would sooner see another North American be pope.

Africa's strongest contender is Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, a 64 year old cardinal from Ghana.  Although I would be thrilled to see an African cardinal become pope, I have my reservations here.  For starters, he is clearly conservative.  When discussing the issue of sexual abuse scandals, Cardinal Turkson stated “African traditional systems kind of protect or have protected its population against this tendency,” he said. “Because in several communities, in several cultures in Africa homosexuality or for that matter any affair between two sexes of the same kind are not countenanced in our society.”  His linking of homosexuality to the scandals is incredibly problematic.  Cardinal Turkson also screened an anti-Islam video which earned him criticism.  For more information on this candidate, look at this Huffington Post article. 

Currently my favorite papal contender is Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, a 67 year old Austrian cardinal.  He is someone not afraid to speak his mind.  He has spoken out against the sexual abuse scandals and the Church's slow response.  Cardinal Schoenborn is someone who could build bridges with the Islamic and Jewish communities.  All in all he seems like the best candidate. 


If we see white smoke tomorrow or Wednesday morning, it is likely that one of my first two contenders has been selected.  However, it is unlikely that this will occur.  A compromise candidate will probably have to be voted on.  If it turns out not be one of the men on my list, I will post about him but currently it is difficult to predict.  The Church needs someone who: is charismatic, able to take the reigns on financial matters to ensure there is no mismanaging or corruption, can further relations with other religions, will send a strong message regarding the sexual abuse scandals, should be able to think a little outside the box in order to appeal to a younger population, will be more in touch with real people and their day-to-day plights, and can hopefully pave the way for priests to marry in the near future.  All eyes will be on the Sistine Chapel for the next few days and hopefully a new pope will be selected - one who will lead with compassion and understanding.  I pray that it will be so.