Who Will be the Next Pope.....

[DontTreadOnMe]

After the death of Francis, all eyes now turn to the Vatican and the Conclave that will soon meet to pick the same Head of the Roman Catholic Church.
I have mixed feelings on who should be the new Pontiff, and many  believe a more conservative leader is needed for the Church.
I am sure many have the opposite view.

Here's the earlier thread on the Pontiff's death
RIP Francis

One person who is eager to see his favorite installed in the Vatican is Macron.
Is France's Emmanuel Macron trying to influence who gets picked as the next pope?

 
The French president's slew of meetings with top cardinals and high-level officials of the Catholic Church on the sidelines of Pope Francis' funeral at the Vatican last Saturday has caused a stir in Italy, with speculation rife that he might be attempting to influence the selection of the next pontiff, Borgia-style.
In what the Italian press dubbed "interventionism of the modern Sun King," Emmanuel Macron held a meeting at the French embassy in Rome with four compatriots who will be present at the conclave: Archbishop of Marseille Jean-Marc Aveline, Bishop of Ajaccio François Bustillo, Apostolic Nuncio to the US Christophe Pierre and Archbishop Emeritus of Lyon Philippe Barbarin.
All four are full-fledged cardinals, while two of them — Aveline and Bustillo — are considered to be among the contenders to become the next pontiff.
 

[KKLoco]

I'm confused about the popes relationship to God. Supposedly, the pope acts in Christs name and has his authority. How can a person elected by imperfect humans, be God's mouthpiece? Furthermore, if the decision can be manipulated by outside forces, how can he be a representative of God?

[DontTreadOnMe]

I'm confused about the popes relationship to God. Supposedly, the pope acts in Christs name and has his authority. How can a person elected by imperfect humans, be God's mouthpiece? Furthermore, if the decision can be manipulated by outside forces, how can he be a representative of God?

I am far from an expert.  The Pope is only infallible in certain Church matters.
https://www.catholic.com/tract/papal-infallibility

Infallibility belongs in a special way to the pope as head of the bishops (Matt. 16:17–19; John 21:15–17). As Vatican II remarked, it is a charism the pope “enjoys in virtue of his office, when, as the supreme shepherd and teacher of all the faithful, who confirms his brethren in their faith (Luke 22:32), he proclaims by a definitive act some doctrine of faith or morals. Therefore his definitions, of themselves, and not from the consent of the Church, are justly held irreformable, for they are pronounced with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, an assistance promised to him in blessed Peter.”
The infallibility of the pope is not a doctrine that suddenly appeared in Church teaching; rather, it is a doctrine that was implicit in the early Church. It is only our understanding of infallibility that has developed and been more clearly understood over time. In fact, the doctrine of infallibility is implicit in these Petrine texts: John 21:15–17 (“Feed my sheep . . . ”), Luke 22:32 (“I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail”), and Matthew 16:18 (“You are Peter . . . ”).

[sahgwa]

Without minding sounding callous, they will pick whichever black guy they can find that is high ranking and will kowtow to the globalist agenda.  They love using people's skin tones to 'strengthen ' their support and signal their worldliness.  

The progression has already been from conservative, to very antiCatholic and dare I say, progressive, so the progression must push further for inclusion!

My money is on 1. Peter Turkson (Ghana)

But if that is too much of a jump, they will go for the smoother transition from white mainstream, to 'worldlier face'  by way of an Asian:
2. Luis Antonio Tagle (Philippines)

You heard it here first folks.  Get your bets in.

[UltraBudgie]

[Maxmars]

I'm confused about the popes relationship to God. Supposedly, the pope acts in Christs name and has his authority. How can a person elected by imperfect humans, be God's mouthpiece? Furthermore, if the decision can be manipulated by outside forces, how can he be a representative of God?

I always understood that the Pope is first and foremost to be recalled as a human being.

The college selected someone who they believe would serve the church in such a way
as to leave her safer than before, thriving, and fully capable of ministering to the body of the church.

Everything else is cloistered intrigue... as humans seem to engender everywhere...

The Pope is given the trust to speak definitively on matters of the faith, and act as a
singular interface between the entire Catholic community, and whatever civil government exists
where they are.

His "infallibility" was a product of a of a need to identify his authority as coming from God...
rather than the Cardinals who elected him... and even they must accept his word as final,
(But of course, that's theory.... you know how that goes.)

Of course, I'm no expert in these matters... I hope you'll correct me if I'm mistaken.

[FlyersFan]

 How can a person elected by imperfect humans, be God's mouthpiece? 

He's not. 
He's only infallible when he speaks EX CATHEDRA from the chair of Peter on Doctrine matters. 
If he gives opinion that is not ex-cathedra doctrine, then it's subject to fault and no one has to listen to it. 

And his authority on this comes from Christ Himself.

Matthew 16:18-19 - [sup] [/sup]And I tell you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. [sup]19 [/sup]I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Peter, the first Pope got full authority which Heaven confirms.   This was passed down by apostolic succession which was instituted in ACTS.  And of course apostolic succession if confirmed by Heaven because Christ said that Peter had full authority and Peter instituted it.

If the Church made an error on doctrine then Hell would have prevailed against Christs church, and that would mean that Christ lied in Matthew 16:18-19.  That's where papal infallibility on doctrine matters comes from.

[FlyersFan]

https://catholicvote.org/cardinal-paroli...ring-well/

Vatican Secretary of State ... the #2 person at the Vatican only behind the Pope himself ... Cardinal Pietro Parolin .... fainted in public yesterday.    The doctors say it was a sudden spike in blood pressure.   

This guy is widely believed to be the front runner for the race to the Chair of Peter.

But with him having high blood pressure spikes, which is something that can lead to stroke, his chances may have just dropped significantly.   (GOOD!)   The Cardinals aren't going to want a guy who is stroke-ish because a serious stroke could leave a pope in a nursing home as a veggie for many many years.  They wouldn't like that.

No one knows who will be next, but I'm hoping for Cardinal Sarah.

[Maxmars]

Again in theory... is it true that no ordained clergy is "limited" or "exempt" from being elected Pope...

An interesting thing, if true.

[IdeomotorPrisoner]

The worst nightmares of everyone that hoped they'd knock off the reform stuff? I think the colorful "all are welcome" banners are staying up. They will pick whoever continues on the legacy of Francis the best. All the front runners seem to be likely to do exactly that.

My guess is the top mentioned Parolin, whom Las Vegas has at 9/4 odds, and Tagle (who would be the first Asian Pope) at 7/2. Both are greater than 20% implied chance to win. But you also can't rule out Soveirgnty at 9/1 or Journalism also at 7/2.