VATICAN CITY
Economic Times
Pope resigns: Next pontiff’s election will depict a lot about Church’s ideologies
By Bennett Voyles
Whether the beleaguered Pope Benedict XVI is simply worn out or just saw his February 10 announcement of abdication as a way to call a snap election that will keep his conservative faction of the Roman Catholic Church in power, it didn’t take long for betting to begin on who the next pope might be.
Paddy Power, Ireland’s largest bookmaker, is now offering 11/4 odds on Angelo Scola, cardinal of Venice, 7/2 on Peter Turkson of Ghana, and 9/2 on Marc Ouellet of Quebec, Canada. Meanwhile, across the Irish Sea, Ladbrokes has Cardinal Turkson in the lead, followed by Marc Ouellet and Angelo Scola.
It might seem irreverent to bet on the future leader of the 1.2 billion-souled flock like a horse race, but maybe the bookies are on to something. Turning the election into an actual race could put a little more Roman back into the Roman Catholic Church, and give it a welcome dose of positive publicity. After so many sordid scandals in recent years, the spectacle of those scarlet robes billowing around a restored Circus Maximus would be long remembered by the faithful and heathen alike. It would also have the practical advantage in ensuring that the College of Cardinals selected its strongest – or at least its sharpest-elbowed – member, either of which are useful qualities in a SupremePontiff.
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