AUSTRALIA
Guyra Argus
By Barney Zwartz
Feb. 13, 2013
IT MIGHT be the world’s most exclusive election, where 120 elaborately garbed elderly men employing ancient rituals amid great ceremony set the course for a sixth of the world’s population, the 1.2 billion people who call themselves Roman Catholic.
It comes around, on average, every seven years, one of which will be 2013 thanks to the dramatic announcement by Benedict XVI on Monday that at 8pm on February 28 he will cease to be Pope.
By Easter, according to a Vatican spokesman, the 266th Pope will be installed. And this conclave offers the strongest likelihood yet that he may come from the developing world of Latin America, Asia or Africa – the first non-European Pope (if you don’t count the Roman empire).
While there are several strong candidates, known as papabile, none stands out. So, as always, lobbying, and what in Australia might be called factional deals, will be vital.
What the cardinals decide are the most urgent issues will determine their choice. At 78, Pope Benedict was not initially considered a serious candidate in 2005, but acceptance of his view that fighting secularism in Europe was a top priority – combined with some impressive performances as dean of the college of cardinals – led to his election.
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