One of the more titillating aspects of the Pope's recent death is the speculation that this man, Cardinal Francis Arinze, may succeed him as the most powerful Catholic on the planet. This would make even a Condoleeza Rice Presidency seem mundane. But is this a sign of social progress along racial lines in the world, or merely a result of the waning influence of the Church in general, and it's reliance on third-world markets to swell its ranks?
The answer of course, is all of the above. But would this be good for the Church? Undoubtedly. As an acolyte of John Paul II, Arinze would be able to wield the media power of the papacy as a leveraging tool against African and Islamist fascism, much as his predecessor did against communism. The headline-grabbing nature of his papacy could by far be the best thing that ever happened to Africa, despite the tired antiquated views on sexuality and contraception that he shares with the most conservative elements of Rome. Even the Catholic-leary red states might be happy to hear Arinze continue to say things like:
[The family] is scorned and banalised by pornography, desecrated by fornication and adultery, mocked by homosexuality, sabotaged by irregular unions, and cut in two by divorce.'
Not the type of thing that I would normally champion, but the options are few and they all sound the same, so I'm adopting the liberal notion of the 'lesser of several evils' here.
Vatican watchers are divided on which direction Rome will go in deciding on a new Pope, some believe that the Italians want another stab at running things before the whole enterprise becomes such an impotent joke that there's no glory in it anymore. Others are betting on a South American to shore up the hispanic Catholic bloc. Arinze is the, um....dark horse so to speak. But he's still in the running, and I'm thinking that the zeitgeist just might be in his favor. Only the College of Cardinals knows for sure, and until we see white smoke go up above the Vatican, it's anybody's game.
Comments