ROME
National Catholic Reporter
by John L. Allen Jr. | Mar. 3, 2013
Rome
Seen through American eyes, perhaps the biggest surprise of the run-up to the 2013 conclave has been the emergence of Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston as a longshot candidate for the papacy, at least as these things are assessed by the global media.
Going in, many church-watchers believed Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York was the great American hope, and he’s indeed still drawing mention.
Yet in the days since Benedict XVI’s Feb. 11 resignation announcement, a striking number of handicappers also have tossed O’Malley into the mix, partly because of his profile as a reformer on clerical abuse scandals, and partly because his plain brown Capuchin habit contrasts sharply with stereotypes of the Vatican as a bevy of power games and wealth.
Speaking today to NCR, O’Malley described the buzz around him as “surreal” and, if he thinks too much about it, “very scary.” At the same time, he described himself as a “very dark horse” in the race.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.