Pope Frontrunners

Thursday, April 14, 2005

Every time I read an article on who will be the next Pope a different Cardinal is mentioned as the frontrunner. Many--such as the Neuhuas piece cited here--list Ratzinger.

Here's another interesting candidate, described in the Daily News.

Dionigi Cardinal Tettamanzi of Milan is the odds-on favorite of every
bookmaker taking wagers on the next Pope.

A moral theologian who looks like Pope John XXIII and thinks like Pope
John Paul II. . . . he is avuncular and charming. Tettamanzi has been able to
bridge political chasms within the Vatican without making important enemies. He
is popular with both conservatives and progressives.

At 71, he's old enough to make another 26-year papacy unlikely. He's the leading Italian in a year when many foresee the job returning to Italian hands.

And most importantly, he was a favorite of John Paul, is believed to
have ghostwritten some of his encyclicals and would represent a smooth
continuation of the late Pope's policies.

--James Jewell