J3Px
Continuing on from the previous post, the question of who will be the next pope presents some intriguing doctrinal questions, particularly in light of the Roman Catholic Church's demographic developments over the last few decades. There is significant notice taken of the long-term drop-off in church attendance in Europe and North America, as well as a concomitant decline in the numbers entering the priesthood, while at the same time numbers in both areas have increased in Africa and Latin America, and, especially in the latter, have been accompanied by a rise in fundamentalist doctrinary teachings and behavior. While J2P2's stacking the college of cardinals with an apparently larger-than-usual number of selectors has suggested he has sought to ensure the apostolic succession achieves the preservation and even advancement of his own agenda, the cardinals themselves have spoken to their independence in such mattters, and one rather hopes to see that exercised, at least because the challenges faced by the Church in the near future will likely see the need not for rigid adherence to holding or deepening a particular adherence to the catechism but the strength of mind to express and inspire the "body of Christ" to accept and support a challenged theology. That is likely to be a dismaying precondition should any of the longer-odds papal candidates, i.e., those of more fundamentalist bent from Africa or to a lesser extent South America, be announced when the white smoke issues forth, so I'm rather hoping for just another boring choice: an Italian, maybe, although it would be interesting if an American was chosen - think of the conspiracy theories from that one. I'd also like to see more imagination in the choice of papal name. "John Paul" wasn't particularly inspired, and John Paul II was positively dull, although the reasons for both were obvious. We haven't had a "Clement" in a while, and maybe that would be a good choice, faced with a tumultuous time to come as the next pope will be.