The Romans have a word for it: papabili the "possible Popes." In other times and other conclaves, they were at most a handful of men who, because of their holiness or wisdom or political savvy or some fortuitous combination of such qualities were deemed worthy of election as Pope. The conclave to choose a successor to Pope Paul VI, however, will be like no other before it. The number of Cardinal-electors, for one thing, is far greater than in any previous conclave, nearly twice the number who voted in 1963 in...
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