Who Will Be The Next Pope And How Will He Be Elected?
Dr Clive Gillis PADDY POWER, bookmaker to the Irish priests, is offering odds on who is likely to succeed the late Pope John Paul II, already dubbed St John Paul the Great. At the time of writing, the betting is: Italian Dionigi Tettamanzi 5‑2; Nigerian Francis Arinze 11‑4; Honduran Oscar Maradiaga 4-l; and Bavarian Chief Inquisitor Joseph Ratzinger 7‑1. Arinze, Maradiaga and Ratzinger have been in the top four for several years. Only two previous popes have been called The Great. Leo the Great died in 461 and Gregory the Gnat in 590. They was followed by St Hilarius and Sabinianus respectively, both of whose pontificates were shorter and less charismatic than their famous predecessors. Hence we may expect the appointment of an older caretaker pope at this time. In 1978 the present Popes predecessor, John Paul I, who was widely thought to have been murdered, was elected in a mere four ballots. This was at the behest of two cardinals who had no difficulty in swaying a sufficient number
