Who Will Be the Next Pope?

This question is floating all over the world, now that the Pope has passed. I heard a radio interview with a man speaking about how when he had an audience with The Big Guy, it consisted of him repeating back everything he said, with a "god bless" after it. Not a scintillating meeting. Anyway, here is what National Geographic said about the next Papa.

"There are several scenarios," Gillis said. "One is that, after having a Polish pope for 27 years, the cardinals want to return to one of their own and elect an Italian. Another would be that the pope would be a figure from the developing world. The other scenario is that they'll choose a European who can revive moribund Christianity in Europe—or try to, anyway."

"I think there's a good likelihood that the next pope will come from outside Italy," Gillis said. Father Richard McBrien is a theologian at Indiana's University of Notre Dame. He thinks it is more likely—though not a sure thing—that the next pope will be an Italian.

"With so many cardinal-electors—119 at this point—and so many possible candidates, it's practically impossible to do more than guess," he said. "No one seriously predicted the election of Karol Wojtyla of Poland last time around. It could be anybody."