Conclave could be lengthy, no obvious frontrunner [CNAU]

[Jerry-Jet]

Sorry folks I said that the other Argentine–Cardinal Sandri would be elected and that it would take another day.

The Holy Spirit had different plans and gave us a different great choice!

I heard one report that on the first ballot that Pope Francis was third but got stronger and stronger with each ballot.

Watching Cardinal George on EWTN it seemed to me like he was saying that the Holy Spirit was involved and the future Pope Francis was known to many but flew under the radar until the night after the first ballot.

Maybe in the future most conclaves will be short–the cardinals are used to television, cell phones, computers, etc.–in other words they’re wired in like the rest of us.

Maybe with the silence of the conclave their attention is focused intently on the choice they are making and frankly they don’t want to hang around forever dwelling on the choice!

I think the Holy Spirit really CHOSE the pope! I hope he lives and his pontificate lasts until his 100th birthday!

I am a convert from two years ago and used to wonder why Catholics made such a big deal out of the election of a pope–now I understand–I rejoiced when I saw the white smoke and my mother who is 74 and also converted with me 2 years said “The Holy Spirit picked him!”

I’ll always remember her saying it!

I am so happy to be Catholic!

Long live Pope Francis!

 

[Lucky7]

So much for that lengthy conclave…lol.

 

[Digitonomy]

Maybe in the future most conclaves will be short–the cardinals are used to television, cell phones, computers, etc.–in other words they’re wired in like the rest of us.

Maybe with the silence of the conclave their attention is focused intently on the choice they are making and frankly they don’t want to hang around forever dwelling on the choice!

I think conclaves will be short in most cases for at least two reasons.

1. 
   *]There are not the deep political divisions between factions of cardinals that there once were. Considering that all the cardinals in this case had been appointed by two ideologically similar pontiffs, the diversity was remarkably narrow. But even if that hadn’t been the case, the political divisions now are about internal church politics, not about more intractable matters like whether the papacy stays in France or moves back to Rome.
   *]As you point out, information is much more widely available on all the candidates. Long ago, after your first two choices you probably had to rely on rumor and innuendo to judge other candidates. There was plenty of fear that a candidate you didn’t know could lead the Church in a way you fundamentally disagreed with, so cardinals were much slower to compromise on their choice. Now, if your favorites Dolan and Tagle don’t seem to have legs, you probably already know a bit about Bergoglio. If not, there are plenty of other cardinals who do know about him and can fill you in, and tell you why they think he’s a good or bad choice. Also, the internationalization of the College of Cardinals in recent years means even if you are suspicious of the South Americans as being biased, and the Italians because of their reputation for intrigue, you can ask a cardinal from Lithuania or India or Kenya what he knows about this guy.