VATICAN CITY
USA Today
by Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY
If you want to picture the next pope, look back, look ahead, and brace for surprises.
The cardinals who will elect the new pontiff were all chosen by the past two and tasked with finding a pope who can speak to the future.
And no one can tell for sure if the man they pick will be the pope they get.
When 118 electors – all the Cardinals under age 80 – are locked in to the Sistine Chapel, they may pray the Holy Spirit guides them to a man who brings an eternal, orthodox vision of the faith. Just like globe-trotting rock star Pope John Paul II. Just like scholarly theologian Pope Benedict XVI.
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