VATICAN CITY
Worldcrunch
Is Italy ready to take back the papacy after being shut out by the Polish John Paul II and Germany’s Benedict XVI? This truck driver’s son is the Italians’ best hope.
By Andrea Tornielli
LA STAMPA/Worldcrunch
VATICAN CITY – For four days the cardinals met in a spacious meeting hall for open discussions in six separate sessions of the pre-conclave General Congregation. But it is in the private one-on-one conversations where the strongest “papabili” have begun to emerge ahead of Tuesday afternoon’s opening of the conclave to choose a successor to Pope Benedict XVI.
Among the most likely candidates, there is growing support converging around the name of Cardinal Angelo Scola, 71, the Archbishop of Milan.
Firmly on the list of the possible candidates for pope since Benedict announced his surprise resignation last month, Scola could receive early votes from cardinals from the United States, Europe, and notably his native Italy, which still counts by far the biggest single voting bloc at 28 voting-aging “princes of the Church.”
Moreover, his Oasis Foundation, a Church-run initiative to open dialogue with the Muslim world, has helped Scola to establish relationships with leaders in the Eastern Rite Churches, for example with the influential Lebanese Patriarch of Antioch Bechara Rahi.
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