Rome’s at it again.
Just one year after Pope Benedict XVI created 24 new cardinals, the rumor mill is cranked up and turning at full speed.
Coming out of it is the confident assertion that a new batch of red hats will be handed out next year, maybe as soon as February.
The numbers add up.
The numbers add up.
By February 2012, there will be 108 voting cardinals who are under 80 years of age and can thus take part in a conclave and elect a new pope.
This is 12 below the number of elector cardinals prescribed by Church law.
Look just two months further and two more spots will be free by April.
So who’s going to receive a red zucchetto?
Even if the decision finally belongs only to the Pope, it’s quite easy to make predictions and narrow the field, as some posts in the Church – say, archbishop of a major diocese or head of a Vatican office – lead almost automatically to becoming a cardinal.
So who’s going to receive a red zucchetto?
Even if the decision finally belongs only to the Pope, it’s quite easy to make predictions and narrow the field, as some posts in the Church – say, archbishop of a major diocese or head of a Vatican office – lead almost automatically to becoming a cardinal.