RIP Pope Francis

sringwal said:
Popesmoot time!

www.newsweek.com

The next Pope: who are the frontrunners to succeed Pope Francis?

The new pope's leadership will set the tone for the Church's future, whether continuing Francis's progressive reforms or shifting back toward conservatism.
www.newsweek.com www.newsweek.com
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I hope the betting markets are right here, with the top betting favorites being candidates likely to build on Francis's legacy of a mor progressive agenda. My concern is that in today's larger political climate, where right-wing authoritarians are in the ascendancy, we'll see a conservative pope from Europe (like the guy from Hungary discussed in the article) who basically undoes everything Francis did.
 
You know, this is the sort of prediction that the betting markets should be really good at.

1. It wouldn't attract betting intended to influence events, unlike political betting
2. There's unlikely to be much sample bias. If there are more liberals than conservatives in a betting pool, and bets are limited, then the betting line will be liberal. Here the candidates aren't even really known, so it's hard to imagine there are huge imbalances in factions among bettors. Probably most bets would be based on guesswork or information.
3. Betting markets are particularly good when they can incorporate important non-public information -- i.e. leaked information. Since people don't have to explain their bets, they could be trading on leaks. And OMG there would have to be so many leaks. The amount of people involved in the process one way or another, or who would see it, has to be ridiculously high. So bettors motivated for profit would be able to profitably invest in inside information.
 
superrific said:
What I know about the inner workings of the Catholic Church fits in a thimble.

But that's my expectation. Maybe not a "hard conservative" but I think there was a lot of opposition in the Vatican to Francis. IIRC, the reason he was selected was that he was the compromise choice who was predicted to just sort of hold the line and that's not what happened.
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As the article posted above mentions, a majority of the Cardinals eligible to vote at the conclave were appointed by Francis and he had a strong tendency to promote reasonably progressive arch/bishops, so the majority of voting-eligible Cardinals should be (from the Catholic perspective) left-of-center.

It's hard to believe they'd go with someone more conservative rather than settling on a somewhat progressive candidate, but anything can happen once the Sistine Chapel doors shut.
 
SnoopRob said:
As the article posted above mentions, a majority of the Cardinals eligible to vote at the conclave were appointed by Francis and he had a strong tendency to promote reasonably progressive arch/bishops, so the majority of voting-eligible Cardinals should be (from the Catholic perspective) left-of-center.

It's hard to believe they'd go with someone more conservative rather than settling on a somewhat progressive candidate, but anything can happen once the Sistine Chapel doors shut.
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I didn't see that about the majority of cardinals. That does change the calculation considerably. Hard conservative probably no way; middle of the road, maybe?

Again, what I know about the Vatican was learned mostly from Quantum of Solace, and that film (which I like better than most overall) was terrible as a tourist guide. Also there was that scene in Godfather III.
 
IMG_6582.jpeg

I know he has been to a funeral before but this post suggests otherwise. Who looks forward to a funeral?
 
nycfan said:
IMG_6582.jpeg

I know he has been to a funeral before but this post suggests otherwise. Who looks forward to a funeral?
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A good Irish wake?

In the ‘80’s, my best friend’s mother died after a multi-year battle with cancer.

Her death rocked that family. She was the one who linked her sons to one another and each son to their father.

Large numbers came together to mourn her death and celebrate her life. The day of her memorial service was a wonderful day.

Trump is going to the Pope’s funeral service to draw attention to Trump.
 
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