Pope Benedict in A Few Short Years Is About To Affect Church For Many Decades With His Cardinals

I am going to Mississippi this weekend to visit my Grandmother. I think I will have an opportunity to post but not sure. So let me get this out and if I can't post again well GEAUX TIGERS beat the VOLs . Oh and vote for Jay Dardenne for Lt Governor my Louisiana followers!!

Rocco (Whispers in the Loggia) is continuing his four part series on Pope Benedict's appointments of Bishops and Cardinals over at NCR.. Today he tackles Cardinals. It is another great piece and he shows how the incredible timing of Benedict's Pontificate will effect the Church for many decades. Read his entire great post here .

Let me give just some of the highlights below.

As to the College of Cardinals what Benedict is about to be able to do is breathtaking. He is about to set the tone of the Church for many decades.

Right now, Benedict has 17 open seats in the college that will elect his successor with two to turn 80 by by 14 November. So that makes nineteen slots to return to the maximum 120 (a number set by Paul VI in 1975).

Benedict has made thirty Cardinals a quarter of the eventual electorate that will elect his successor.

If he restores the "Papal" Senate to full voting power (as expected) a whopping 42 percent would be his Cardinals already.

Now this is important- Between now & Dec2012, 23 MORE seats will open up just on account of electors “aging out” at 80.

In 7 short years Benedict will have appointed a contingent just shy of the two-thirds necessary to elect the next pope. Benedict’s contributions to the College of Cardinals are considerably younger than John Paul the II. For whatever reason John Paul the II toward the end of this reign made Cardinals that had quite a bit of age on them.

This is all setting up the amazing scenario that not one and I mean not on of John Paul II 's , who had a very long reign , Cardinals will ever become Pope.

Benedict's appointments in the United States is very much affected by this incredible timing . In the USA 6 of the 13 Cardinals will turn 80 and "age out" within the next two years.

In the entire history of the USA Catholic Church there has never been this a glut of openings.

Benedict appears to be looking very long term and" is playing a conspicuous game of long ball here .The "residential" Cardinals he has already appointed are young O’Malley is 66, DiNardo all of 61; Add to this the folks in the pipeline we know shall be made Cardinal are young- José 58; Dolan is 60. Further recall Burke who is heading up the Vatican "Supreme Court" is 62

All men These could elect not only elect one but two of the next Popes.

What Benedict is doing next will be painful to some but shows he recognizes the power shifts in the USA.

The Most recent Created Cardinal Sees in USA was D.C. in 1967 and then before that Los Angeles in 1953. Benedict noticed the Demographic shift in the USA . He has made gateway city of Houston a See(Dinardo).

It appears POPE Benedict is going to get all Rhett Butler and START making Red hat History in the South.

Look for the Harley-riding, cigar-chomping Wenski of Miami or Gregory of Atlanta to be made Cardinals and thus their cites elevated to RED HAT status.

If it was Gregory we could have a Catholic OBAMA moment The first African-American prince of the church.

Let me comment on a non Rocco observation here. It is apparent that there is a unbalance of power in the Cardinals between the USA and Italy. At this moment Italy is overrepresented and the USA underrepresented. Benedict must correct this. So why not elevate both Miami and Atlanta?

For the Papists north of the border it is apparent Thomas Collins of Toronto will enter the College. Rocco spends the next three paragraphs talking how Collins of Toronto is best thing since cheese whiz.

Pope will have to do Cardinals in Asia and Africa.Home of 270 mil Catholics Rocco gives the likely ones. A very good write up on that so be sure to place close attention to what Rocco is writing there.

Returning to the RED WHITE & BLUE Benedict will likely make Burke(Obama Foe) and Wuerl of DC Cardinals.

So that is it. If you and Benedict manage to keep breathing for the next few years you will see the decades future Church now.