With Francis at 88 years old and in the hospital with a bad infection, it’s time to look at which cardinals have the greatest chance to be the next Pope:
Contender #1 would be the first Hungarian pope ever, if elected. Drawback: is advancing in age, and when he hits 80, he’ll lose his vote and may be out of the running.
Contender #2 was a staunch opponent of Ortega in Nicaragua; considered a quiet moderate.
Contender #3 would be a right-wing choice; a bit controversial given his support for Bolsinaro in Brazil.
Contender #4 would be the youngest in the running, and could be the first Caribbean Pope.
Contender #5 is from the Philippines, and is well-connected in the Vatican bureaucracy; would be a center or even slightly left of center choice, and would probably be the choice most likely to continue Francis’ policies.
In addition to these five, I’d add a sixth:
Is intriguing as he would be a right-wing choice, a choice favored by groups like the Personal Ordinariates that have sprung up in the Anglo-Catholic world, and of Eastern Catholic Churches, and most interestingly…he would be the first African pope since great antiquity.
Only drawback: he’s already 79 and will lose his vote soon.
Robert Cardinal Sarah - The Church lost a tremendous opportunity to build on the legacy of SAINT John Paul II and Benedict XVI when he wasn’t elevated to the papacy.
Long overdue to have an African Pope. Christians are being murdered in Africa and around the world. I am also for a return when Priests were able to marry.
Years ago, I learned that there were married priests in Houston in the Anglican Catholic Church.
It seems that my father-in-law’s family hosted in home meetings at 8006 Anadell St. in Hilshire Village circa 1980 during the development of “Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Church” which is at 7809 Shadyvilla Lane near Westview and Wirt Road.
He told me that there were 2 brothers (who were both married and) who were the initial 2 priests or bishops who established the church back in 1980.
Eastern Catholic priests (Byzantine, Maronite, etc) may be married. Likewise, Catholic priests that come over from Eastern Orthodoxy and Anglicanism may be married.
The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, for which Our Lady of Walsingham (my favorite Catholic Church in Houston, BTW) is the Cathedral Church, has many priests that came over from Anglicanism, and of course, several of them are married, though others are celibate.
According to Catholic teaching, priestly celibacy isn’t a dogma, it’s a discipline and matter of tradition, and even then, it’s not required in Eastern Catholic Churches.
That discipline/tradition is mostly a Latin one. And even then, exceptions have always been made for Orthodox and Anglican priests that come over. See here.
From “The Catechism of the Catholic Church,” sections 1579 and 1580.
1579 All the ordained ministers of the Latin Church, with the exception of permanent deacons, are normally chosen from among men of faith who live a celibate life and who intend to remain celibate “for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.” 70 Called to consecrate themselves with undivided heart to the Lord and to “the affairs of the Lord,” 71 they give themselves entirely to God and to men. Celibacy is a sign of this new life to the service of which the Church’s minister is consecrated; accepted with a joyous heart celibacy radiantly proclaims the Reign of God. 72
1580 In the Eastern Churches a different discipline has been in force for many centuries: while bishops are chosen solely from among celibates, married men can be ordained as deacons and priests. This practice has long been considered legitimate; these priests exercise a fruitful ministry within their communities. 73 Moreover, priestly celibacy is held in great honor in the Eastern Churches and many priests have freely chosen it for the sake of the Kingdom of God. In the East as in the West a man who has already received the sacrament of Holy Orders can no longer marry.
Ironically, you want us to be ok with their married priests, but the whole reason these former Anglicans left their church was because they didn’t want women bishops or gay clergy. Yea big no for me.
Well, you know, the Catholic Church, while it doesn’t ordain openly practicing homosexuals (to the extent that such a thing can be ascertained), and doesn’t ordain women (again, to the extent such a thing can be identified), it has always ordained married heterosexual men to the priesthood; in Eastern Catholic Churches, if in no other.
So I don’t really see anything wrong with taking an Anglican or Eastern Orthodox priest who is married into the fold, assuming their conversion is sincere, their calling real, and their commitment to ministry solid.
And given that priestly celibacy isn’t a dogma…I wouldn’t object to changing it, but it’s not a super big issue for me. Some men are indeed called to be celibate priests, or even monks, hermits, etc.
