On February 28, Benedict XVI, who was the 265th Pope of Rome, resigned. This is the first case within several centuries that a Pope leaves his post while he is alive. Now, the world is trying to guess who will be the next Pope.
Theoretically, any Roman Catholic, if he is a man and is not married, may become the Pope of Rome. However, within the last several centuries, only cardinals were elected popes. Who will be the next pope? Candidates review (PHOTO), Voice of Russia presents a biography review of the candidates:
Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson (born 11 October 1948) is a Ghanaian cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace since his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI on 24 October 2009. He had served as Archbishop of Cape Coast. He was elevated to the cardinalate by Pope John Paul II in 2003, and is widely regarded as papabile. Immediately following the announcement on 11 February 2013 of the impending resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, at least two bookmakers, Paddy Power and Ladbrokes, made Turkson the favourite to be elected as the new pope, with Paddy Power giving 2/1 odds. Turkson has also been mentioned in regards to St. Malachy's apocalyptic list Prophecy of the Popes, given that its final Pope is named Peter. Odds of 4/1 are given.
Marc Ouellet, PSS (born June 8, 1944) is a Canadian Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the present prefect of the Congregation for Bishops and concurrently president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America since his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI on 30 June 2010. Previously, he was archbishop of Quebec and primate of Canada. He was elevated to the cardinalate by Pope John Paul II, on 21 October 2003. He is the present prefect of the Congregation for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America since his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI on 30 June 2010. He succeeded Giovanni Battista Re, who had reached the age limit.
Francis Arinze (born 1 November 1932) is an Igbo Nigerian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He is Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, having served as prefect from 2002 to 2008. He is the current Cardinal Bishop of Velletri-Segni (succeeding Joseph Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict XVI) since 2005. Arinze was one of the principal advisors to Pope John Paul II, and was considered papabile before the2005 papal conclave, which elected Benedict XVI.
Tarcisio Pietro Evasio Bertone, S.D.B. (born 2 December 1934) is an Italian prelate and a Vatican diplomat. A cardinal of the Catholic Church, he currently serves as Cardinal Secretary of State and Camerlengo, having previously served as Archbishop of Vercelli from 1991 to 1995, as Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, when Cardinal Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, was Prefect, and Archbishop of Genoa from 2002 to 2006. Bertone was elevated to the cardinalate in 2003. On 10 May 2008, he was named Cardinal-Bishop of Frascati. Besides his native Italian, Bertone speaks fluent French, Spanish, German and Portuguese. He has some knowledge of English, although he is not fluent, and he can read Polish, Latin, Greek and Hebrew.
Angelo Scola (born 7 November 1941) is an Italian Cardinal of the Catholic Church, philosopher and theologian. He was appointed Archbishop of Milan by Pope Benedict XVI on 28 June 2011. He had served as Patriarch of Venice since 2002. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 2003. He is considered a contender to succeed Pope Benedict XVI, who has announced his resignation effective 28 February 2013
João Braz de Aviz (born 24 April 1947) is the current prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life since his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI on 4 January 2011. On 11 February 2013, Pope Benedict XVI announced that he will resign on 28 February 2013. Braz de Aviz is cited as one of the Papabili or potential popes. Voice of Russia, Wikipedia: At present, there are more than 200 cardinals in the entire Roman Catholic Church, and it is very hard to guess who of them will be elected the next pontiff. However, quite a few people find it very likely that the next Pope will be an Italian. Before the two last Popes, Pole John Paul II and German Benedict XVI, the papal throne had been occupied by Italians within many years, and now, Italian clergymen will probably try to revive this tradition, some people suppose. In an interview with the Voice of Russia, Executive Director of the Franciscan publishing house in Moscow Igor Baranov said: “It is very likely that the next Pope will be an Italian. The new Pope will be elected from a conclave of 117 cardinals. Out of them, 60 are Europeans, and out of these 60, the majority are Italians.” “One of the candidates who has good chances to win the elections is Angelo Scola, the 71-year-old archbishop of Milan,” Igor Baranov continues. “His Eminence Angelo has large experience in establishing public relations between the Church, on the one side, and politicians and journalists, on the other. Besides, Angelo Scola has initiated, and now heads, an organization that is trying to establish closer relations between Christians and Muslims. I believe that the decision to create such an organization was very timely.” The Voice of Russia has also interviewed Krzysztof Tomasik from the Polish Catholic Information Agency, and he said: “It is hard to predict with a 100% certainty who will be the next Pope. However, many of my colleague journalists say that if they had the right to vote, they would have voted for Milan’s Cardinal Angelo Scola. But there is also a big chance that the new Pope will be a non-European.” The next Pope may even be an African. There are two cardinals from Africa among the candidates, who, as experts say, have good chances to be elected - Francis Arinze from Nigeria and Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson from Ghana. “Both Cardinal Arinze and Cardinal Turkson are very worthy people,” Igor Baranov says. “At present, the number of Roman Catholics in Africa is rapidly growing. Meanwhile, in Europe, the number of Catholics is decreasing, and in the US and Latin America, it is staying at the same level.” Another non-European who is often mentioned among the candidates with good chances to win is the 68-year-old Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, who is the prefect of the Congregation for Bishops. His Eminence Marc has a reputation of a traditionalist. For example, he is radically against abortions. At the same time, Cardinal Ouellet believes that the old ban for Roman Catholic clergymen to be married should be abolished. Russian Orthodox priests, of course, have no right to vote for or against a new Pope of Rome or give any orders to Roman Catholics. However, they have the right to say whom they would prefer to see as the new head of the Roman Catholic Church. Archpriest Dmitry Sizonenko from the Russian Patriarch’s Office says: “There are many friends of Russia among the current candidates for the papal throne – for example, Italian Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, who knows Russian culture and Russian Christian traditions very well and loves them. His Eminence Gianfranco has met several times with Metropolitan Illarion, who is responsible in the Russian Church for ties with other Christian denominations. If Gianfranco Ravasi becomes the Pope of Rome, this would be very beneficial for the relations between the Russian Church and the Roman Catholic Church.”Source: Voice of Russia
