It would be great for us Catholics if the next Pope is a black man!

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/48/story_4829.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/pope/story/0,12272,1055080,00.html

>Guardian snip (talking about Nigerian Cardinal Arinze)

If he does, the world will devour every detail about this stocky Nigerian - that he spent his early years in the countryside outside the Catholic faith; that he loves tennis and football; that he hangs African masks on his apartment walls; that he thinks Muslims, Buddhists and Jews can go to heaven; and that he stopped taking sugar in his tea during the Biafran war.

For many, the most compelling detail would be his race: a black man with more international influence than many white prime ministers and presidents. As pope he would wield a unique blend of spiritual and political power, able to mobilise the opinions of up to a billion Catholics and sway the policies of nation states.

It has been quite a journey from the baked red earth of Eziowelle, a village in south-east Nigeria, to the marbled halls of Rome, where Cardinal Arinze, 70, is the prefect of the congregation for divine worship and the discipline of the sacraments, a post which puts him in charge of liturgy, and number four in the Vatican hierarchy.

"It has been a meteoric rise," said Gerard O'Connell, a Vatican analyst who this week published a book of interviews with the cardinal, called God's Invisible Hand. "The guy is is very bright and astute and able to communicate in simple language. He has a great sense of joy."
>snip

[LTR]

1. I've been hearing his name thrown around

I think it would be very interesting indeed.

Would the hats in Rome go for it?

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

3. I think they would. They'd be foolish if they didn't

Though I have heard that a Latin American is more likely.

[LittleApple81]

4. Yeah. The Colombian jerk that said condoms have pinholes.

Forget it, this Pope has surrounded himself WITH THE MOST CONSERVATIVE members of the church he could find. And that is the pool from which the next pope will be selected.
__________________________________________
Vatican Continues Lies About Condoms

"Relying on condoms is like betting on your own death," said Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, the Vatican's spokesperson on family affairs, last week. He reiterated his opinion that condoms are too permeable to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS, an opinion that Bishops and Cardinals are repeating across four continents.

http://www.libchrist.com/std/vaticanlies.html
_______________________________________

And I know how bad the "Church" is in LA: the prelates come from the olygarchy and that is what they protect.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

2. It would be very nice

I think the article vastly overstate's the Pope's ability to "mobilise the opinions of up to a billion Catholics", however. I think the power of the Pope has waned considerably.

[NoodleBoy]

5. my world religions proffessor...

...said it's likely that the next Pope will be black, because of the influence which African Catholics are gaining.

I'd actually like to see what would happen-- probably, all the racists in the church would freak and break ties with Rome. I'd like to see how my girlfriend's (catholic) family would react to it, as well.