UNITED STATES
Washington Post
By Mathew N. Schmalz,
Updated: Monday, March 11
The Dolan buzz is building.
At first I thought it was part of the typical hype before a conclave. After all, if you’re in a big media market it makes sense to ask whether the local bishop is going to be pope.
Early-on editorials did emerge making a serious case for the cardinal archbishop of New York as someone who could be an effective bishop of Rome and head of the universal church. So, while it wasn’t really a buzz, there has been a consistent low frequency hum surrounding Dolan, punctuated by media-induced exclamatory pauses like “Wow!” and “Just maybe!”
Cardinal Dolan has repeatedly pushed back against speculation–sincerely, not with a false humility. But now the Italian press has really begun to push his candidacy. As the conclave approaches, he’s being seen as the anti-establishment candidate, the one who could bring the curia into line and also bring his common touch and plainspoken ways to the highly academic teachings of Benedict XVI and the mysticism of John Paul II.
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