Which qualities cardinals will look for in the next pope

Let's not forget the adage: "Those who know, don't talk; and those who talk, don't know".

We will be hearing more, no doubt, from various pundits of their 'predictions' about who the next pope might be. (BTW, I understand that somewhere in Ireland, the betting and book making has already started.) The problem is that we will now hear, for another 10 or 11 days, more of these papal conjectures and more opinions on how the Church must change to be 'relevant' in the future...

I look up and see buzzards flying overhead, anticipating the death of the Divine Law and of moral truths because the Pope has died...when I turn on the lights I see rats and roaches scurrying about, leaving their poisonous droppings all over the place. Perhaps, it's time to set some traps?

"John Paul II was such a towering figure that in a way he blotted out everything else," says John Allen, author of "Conclave," a guide to the next papal election. "In many parts of the world people knew all about the pope but they did not know the name of their local bishop."

I don't get the point of this...? Is he talking about Catholics or people in general. Whatever the case, let's take it a step further: can we assume that more people know of Christ than know of the local bishop? If so, is this not a good step, that one has knowledge of Christ-the Savior of mankind, or of his Vicar on earth?

After a period of top heavy, Rome-centric governance, many lay Catholics are hoping for some autonomy and a louder voice in Church debates.

Automony? As if they have no free will? No, what many Catholics want is not freedom or automony but LICENSE...And, of course, this means a relaxation of the teachings of the Church - people don't want to feel guilty for sexual sins...Actually, people don't want to feel guilty about ANY sins! We would be so much better off if the Church would just eliminate SIN...

I shudder to think of where the Church would be had we been deprived of of the leadership of the Holy Father and the Roman Curia. If anything, it seems, at least to me, that we need stronger centralization and leadership - the Church should have one head, Jesus, who is represented by His Vicar, the Pope. Some, it seems, would prefer that the Church evolve, or rather, mutate into some sort of hydra - a multiheaded beast. We have witnessed this to some extent here in the U.S. with some episcopal leaders acting as if they were popes, answerable to no one.

Article is here.

Please forgive my rant...