Today’s Il Stampa carries a fasciating article on a “papal ticket” (click here to read) consisting of Cardinal Odilo Scherer (São Paulo) for Pope with either Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, the Prefect of the Congregation for Clergy or Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, for Secretary of State.
Cardinal Odilo Scherer – São PauloThe ticket is floated by two Curia heavyweights: Cardinals Angelo Sodano, the Dean of the College of Cardinals, and Giovanni Battista Re, Prefect Emeritus of the Congreation of Bishops). There are some indications that other Italian curial Cardinals are supporting this initiative.
The article notes that this idea of “a ticket” has historical precedent. Apparently when John XXIII was elected a similar understanding developed. Regardless, the political calculus goes something like this: Scherer is a Latin American in the largest Catholic country in the world. This plays well on the world stage. Scherer worked at the Curia’s Congregation for Bishops from 1994-2001 for Cardinal Re. This suggests he is trusted by at least one fraction of the Curia.
The critical question: if this ticket is floated by Sodano and Re, is there any chance at all that Scherer clean out the Curia? Is this a leader to move the Church (finally) from its fedual, monarachical structure to a vibrant institution capable of offering religious and moral value to members in the 21st century? To separate sacred tradition from institutional interests and power bases?