Irish bookies favorite for new Pope is Ghana’s Cardinal Peter Turkson

What happened to Boston Cardinal Sean P, O'Malley he was a possible a favorite replacement to be elected to the next pope? Oh god please we did not need a black pope just not yet.

Sorry, The African Cardinals are much too conservative and anti-homophobic and would set the church backward instead of trying to join this century. That continent and some of its countries are in the process of making homosexuality a capital murder crime. If the catholic church is going to survive it doesn't need a Pope that has these same feelings in my opinion. Jesus would never react like that and this person is supposed to represent Jesus on earth.

Rather than "corporate style choice" or decision, the choice of Pope should be a spiritual one. I know this is probably naive since half the cardinals voting were "made" by Pope Benedict; however it was those corporate style choices that put the Catholic Church in the position its in today. This is a very rare situation, were you will have a retired Pope (who handled every abuse case during his tenure as head of the Doctrine of the Faith) supposedly having no impact in the dealings of future areas of the new Pope. I believe many of the cardinals will be intimidated by the "background" Benedict has on all of their diocesans and will feel pressure to vote for "his" choice. It may have been this same "background" that got him elected the first time.

I would like to see an Irish one