Throwing Their Red Hats into the Ring

The highly subtle contest to succeed the Pope is under way

It will be a sad occasion, but it will come. Dressed in their ceremonial red robes, as many as 135 Roman Catholic Cardinals from around the globe, representing 1 billion followers, will gather deep within the Vatican to elect a successor to Pope John Paul II, one of the longest-serving Pontiffs in history but a mortal being nonetheless. The vote will take place in secret and will be guided, according to church doctrine, by the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Which man the College of Cardinals will smile on no one knows, but there is reason to believe this much: the...

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