I Coulda Been A Contender... As Christopher S. Johnson writes: "Since the Pope died, nobody's going to be paying any attention to ECUSA for a while." Let's face it, ECUSA is class D ball even within the Protestant community, so let's look at the interesting stuff; the big leagues.

Naturally, there's a blog out there keeping an eye on the papabile: "Dedicated to the discussion of the possible successors of our Holy Father, John Paul II. Papabile: (pay-pah-bee-lay), n., one who is considered a possible candidate to be Pope."

If you want to bet on the next pope, you can look here the current odds are:

• Francis Arinze (Nigeria) 11-4
• Dionigi Tettamanzi (Italy) 11-4
• Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga (Honduras) 9-2
• Joseph Ratzinger (Germany) 7 - 1
• Claudio Hummes (Brazil) 7-1

All odds, when posted, may be found here, at oddchecker...

If you really want to bet (I sure wouldn't), keep in mind the The Pignedoli Principle when reading the newspapers.

And, since you can't tell a player without a scorecard, here's a good place to look for the current information on who's who.

Last, don't forget about the prophecy of St. Malachy.

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Thumbnail bios from the National Catholic Reporter...