Originally Posted by guthmund

I'm going to go out on a limb and say the next Pope is an old, white guy.

A black Pope? Because when I think "strikingly progessive" I think Catholic Church.

I mean, John Paul II was the first non-Italian to hold the office, right? I'd be surprised if the new Pope chosen is a "liberal." I'd be very surprised if he's non-European. I think I'd drop dead from shock if they choose a black or hispanic guy.

I imagine it's going to be Tettamanzi. He's relatively old, he's Italian, and he's white. Not to mention he's the hand picked successor and like onesnowyowl pointed out, the majority of the College was appointed by John Paul II. It's not that far a leap in logic to presume that they would want to fulfill John Paul's wishes coincidence or not.