My Papal Prediction. - Comments (5)

Category: Applied,Articles,Roman Catholicism
Author: John Malone
Date: 4th April, 2005 @ 06:20:58 PM

It seems like many pundits are trying to guess the next Pope. I’d like to achieve “pundit status” myself, so I think I’ll take a shot at it.

Introspectively, I am realizing I do not take all the Pope hoopla very seriously, and the only reason it appears on this web site instead of some other is that Roman Catholicism is, in the minds of the unlearned, part of the Christian faith. Even casual familiarity with the Bible clarifies that consideration.

But today, I was referred to a few gambling sites on the Internet that are giving odds on the next Pope, with Tettamanzi from Italy, and Arinze from Nigeria as the early favorites, going off at 11-4 and 3-1 respectively.

My pick is a 36-1 longshot, and I will come to him shortly.

Cardinal Tettamanzi is the Italian.

Typically, picking an Italian for Pope is about as reliable as picking Michael Shumacher in a Formula 1 race. JP II was the first non-Italian since almost the so-called Protestant Reformation (OK, maybe that’s exaggerating, but not much!). It’s like picking Atlanta in the NL East, or the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

But, as a Goomba by birth, I’m afraid this time, again, the Italians are going to be odd-man-out on the Papal sweepstakes as a – at least – cosmopolitan gesture.

The third-world candidate is Arinze of Nigeria. I think he’s the one most are cheering on. But despite the incredible religious interest of West Africa, I don’t think Arinze brings what the RC is looking for: a return to dominance.

Africans are too moral for the RC to get this done. Africans are too moral for any of the mainline religions these days, it seems. They have temporarily saved the Anglican Church from itself, but soon enough they will be ignored, marginalized, or corrupted enough for the Anglican-Episcopalian conference to go even further down the road of apostasy.

So who does that leave? Well, a host of contenders, but my darkhorse pick is Jean-Marie Cardinal Lustiger of France. The guy was a personal friend of JP II, is closing on 80 (he’s 78), and retired as Archbishop of Paris in February of this year.

But the main reason I am picking Lutiger is because he is Jewish. If he becomes named Pope he will be the first Jewish Pope ever – don’t tell me the apostle Peter was a Pope: that’s a myth!.

Therefore, in my mind, the first one to truly qualify as potentially the beast arising from the land, {the false prophet|Rev 13:11-16}, written about in the book of Revelation.

We’ll see soon enough if this long shot pays off. Even if it does, it’s not certain that some guy rising up from France – regardless of his Jewish roots – can qualify as that beast!

5 Comments » Leave a comment