On Thursady, February 28 at exactly 19:00 GMT Pope Benedict XVI will formally resign as head of the 1.1 billion Roman Catholic church.
He is the first pope in 598 years (between 1415 to 2013) to have done so. He sited his resignation to ill health and believed it is for the good of the mother church.
The end of the German Leader's almost 8- year reign sets in motion the election of the 266th Pope.
There are 117 (CXVII) Cardinals eligible to elect the next Pope.. Each Crdinal elector has to be below the age of 80 when the seat becomes vacant in the Pope-less interim - SEDE VACANTE.
Thus Cardinal Lubomry Husar of Ukraine, who turns 80 on February 26 cannot vote, but Cardinal Walter Kasper of Germany who turns 80 on March 5 can still vote. Meanwhile Cradinal Julius Riyadi Darmaatmadja of Indonesia who is 78 will miss the vote due to failing health and Cradinal Keith O'Brien, head of Scotland Catholic Church, following allegation of inappropriate conduct with priests resigned and will not vote.
That brings the number of voters to 115.
To inherit the seat of St. Peter, the next Pope needs a two-third majority of the 115 Cardinals, or 77 electors. Out of this number 67 were appointed by Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II.
There is no official list of Papabili (papal candidates).
Under the Canon Law that governs the church any baptized Catholic male is eligible to become a Pope.
Since 1378, the Pope has always been picked from among the cardinals. They will be sequestered inside the Vatican with no newspaper, radio, television or phone. As some Cardinals have facebook and twitter accounts, they will also be cut off from the internet.
If none of the candidates receives the required votes after 33 or 34 ballots, the two candidates with the most votes will move into a runoff; in which only a simple majority is required to be selected.
The candidates themselves are not allowed to vote.
Here are 12 Cardinals whose names, alphabetically listed, are most frequently mentioned as possible candidates:
1. Joao Braz De Aviz, age 65, from Brazil, the country with most Catholics. He is the head of the vatican department of religious congregations. He was appointed Cardinal by Benedict in 2012.
2. Timothy Dolan, age 62, from USA. He became Archbishop of New York in 2009. He was appointed Cardinal by Benedict in 2012. he is known for his humour and charisma.
3. Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, age 70, from Honduras. He is the archbishop of Tegucigalpa and president of Caritas international, the umbrella group of Catholic charities. He is a multilingual archbishop. In the 2005 conclave that elected Benedict, he was also a papabili.
4. Marc Ouellet, age 68, from Canada. He is the head of Vatican's congregation for Bishops.He is well connected within the Curia, the Vatican bureaucracy.
5. Gianfranco Ravasi, age 70, from Italy. He has been the culture minister of the Vatican since 2007 and represents the church to the worlds of art, science and culture. Benedict picked Ravasi to lead the annual recollection of cardinals.
6. Leonardo Sandri, age 69, from Argentina but with Italian parents. He is the current prefect of the Congregation for Oriental Churches and former Vatican ambassador to venezuela and Mexico.
7. Robert Sarah, age 67, from guinea. He is the president of the Pontifical council Cor Unum, which promotes catholic Charitable giving. A scripture scholar and former diocesan bishop, he served nine years as secretary of the Congregation for Evangelization of Peoples.
8. Odilo Pedro Scherer, age 63, from Brazil. He is the archbishop of Sao Paulo, the largest diocese in the largest Catholic country- making him a strong candidate. But the rapid growth of Protestant churches in Brazil could hurt him.
9. Christopher Schoenborn, age 67, from Austria. A former student of Pope Benedict with a pastorial touch the pontiff lacks. The Vienna archbishop has ranked as papal material since editing the church catechism in the 1990's.
10. Angelo Scola, age 71, from Milan. He is the archbishop of Milan, a springboard to the papacy, and is many Italian bet to win. An expert in bioethics, he is also has links to Islamic world, as head of a foundation to promote Muslim- Christian understanding.
11. Luis Tagle, age 55, from Philippines. He is the archbishop of Manila. His charisma is said to be comparable to that of the late Pope John Paul II. He worked with Pope Benedict at the international Theology Commission and was named Cardinal in 2012. At 55 he is the second youngest cardinal.
12. Peter Turkson, age 64, from Ghana. He is said to be the African candidate. As head of the Vatican Justice and peace bureau, he is the spokesman for the church's social conscience and backs world financial forum. He was criticized of showing a video critical of Muslim at recent Vatican synod.
(source: Aljazeera.com/live stream.)
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
The Big Boss - Keshi resigns.
Keshi has told the media house that he would 'pack his bags and leave'if he felt that he is no longer wanted as the coach of the Super eagles.
His victor over the Burkina Faso and the eventual lifting of the trophy has got highly praised from all quarters.
It was gathered that some top notch in the Nigeria football governing house are not comfortable with his progress and needed him off loaded.
Keshi is the person in the history of Nigeria Football to have won the cup as a player in 1994 and as a coach in 2013.
Keep pace with us for more details....
Monday, February 11, 2013
POPE BENEDICT XVI RESIGNS
Greg Burke, the adviser said the pope had made the decision because he dose not feel he has the energy to continue in his position as the number one in the catholic episcopal hierarchy.
The resignation which is to take effect at 8 pm on 28 February was announced in Latin Consistory meeting.
Pope Benedict XVI is the first Pope to so resigned since the middle ages and this will leave the Papacy vacant until the next successor is chosen by the college of Cardinals in what is termed The Conclave.
His successor is expected to be elected by the end of March and possibly before the beginning of the Holy Week on 24th March.
The question on everybody's lips is, will the Catholic Church pick the next Pope outside of Europe, which has been occupying the seat for thousands of years?
The Papal line, which goes back more than 2,000 has been dominated by Europe and for 400 years between 1523 and John Paul II in 1978, the Pope was always an Italian.
Those who might be considered to succeed the ailing Pope are Cardinals Marc Ouellet of Canada, Francis Arinze of Nigeria and Peter Turkson of Ghana.While those in Paddy Power favour Marc Ouellet, William Hill favour Francis Arinze and Peter Turkson.
Pope Benedict XVI succeeded Pope John Paul II in 2005 after he passed on to glory.
However, Pope Benedict XVI will continue to function in his capacity and honour all public commitments and engagements until the date of his resignation, after which he will be moved to summer residence near Rome and then to a former monastery within Vatican territory.
We wish the Pope good health and strength till God calls him to an eternal happiness.
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