Could Cardinal Timothy Dolan from New York be the first American pope?

Looks like the IC 'conclave' is in full operating mode!! Aren't we lucky to have 'cardinals' like redhand32, Swineford, McNamara31, Joan1954, Nicomax, Collette2, etc ad infinitum --people who are SURE they clearly know the mind of GOD and what is best for His people!-- deciding who exactly is best to lead 1.2Billion faithful... when by all evidence it's clear as far as the CC is concerned, not a single one of them knows their a** from a hole in the ground... much less what would be good for a Church they hate. -- One would think they not only think the Holy Spirit has their hand in a firm grasp... but that they are the HS themselves!

Why not change the title of this site IrishCentral to IrishCatholic...at least be honest.

Cardinal Marc Ouellet from Canada

Ludicrous thought. This blunderbuss would be totally lost without the fawning American media.

The Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin who broke ranks, releasing abuse documents and speaking truth to the power of the Vatican saying of abuse: "it's a total abuse of power". I think this man who showed total spiritual integrity is what the church needs at the helm.

Who could best bring our fractured Church together, our fractured world together - a black Pope - maybe! Our black president: who would have thunk it? We must move on in Faith!

i won't even address the idiocy of a dolan papacy. more importantly, the issue of a 3rd world pope takes precedence over an american pope with baggage.

As in any business, follow the growth patterns. And for the Vatican that means Africa, or South America. The church is fading in Europe, stagnant in the US due to scandals and remaining Catholics in these areas are much to the left of the thinking in Rome.

Dolan? Not going to happen as he is from a superpower. I think it will be either Oulert of Canada or Turkson of Ghana.

"Very popular in New York", the article states. I'm a practicing Catholic, -- Mass every Sunday, and do my level best to keep the Ten Commandments, for example. I find Cardinal Dolan boring, but, more to the point, mostly ineffective in addressing any spiritual needs or concerns that I might have.

The French Canadian, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, is an interesting thought as one who might be pope. Does anybody here have experience with him? Not the regular Catholic and hierarchy haters, but anybody else?

American 'insider' - William Cardinal Levada - has a better chance than Cardinal Dolan.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan Pedophile Protector might well be the next Pope, he may have an "in" with the former alter boys. He probably would refuse the job anyway; not many children in the Vatican and private audiences with children are few and far between. Why don't the Roman Catholic parishioners have a say in who gets to be pope. The cardinals who do vote aren't elected, they are chosen by the Vatican. It is a self serving system where committing crimes for the church hierarchy is rewarded and the parishioners are victimized. Didn't Nazi Germany target homosexuals, Jews etc. The Roman Catholic Church hierarchy operates on the premise of do as I say, not do as I do and presents a picture of sanctity to the parishioners and non Catholics, but the corruption, money laundering and rape of children is pretended not to exist and is minimized when it is exposed. Get rid of Dolan and his bum brothers who have brought shame to the church.

Lot's of specualtion. Who ever it is, the system will remain the same and nothing to do with the Holy Spirit.

Regardless of who the successor is the direction of the Roman Catholic Church is firmly set and it's firmly regressive. Indeed, it has much in common with our Republican Party - GOP = POG = Party of God. Both believe that their principles,values and doctrines are sound, having come from God on high - it's just the messaging they need to fix. They're both wrong, utterly out of touch with the realities of the modern world. The GOP has become a regional party, the South and rural America. The Catholic Church has lost much of Europe and even the so-called "faithful," i.e. Mass-going, in North America are a la carte Catholics, selectively choosing what to accept and what to ignore. The Church, too, is becoming a regional party, Africa and South America. But like the GOP, unless it addresses core issues of doctrines and policies it is ultimately doomed.