Could This Be the Next Pope?

Dionigi Cardinal Tettamanzi

Function: Archbishop of Milano, Italy

Title: Cardinal Priest of Ss Ambrogio e Carlo

Birthdate: Mar 14, 1934	Country: Italy

Elevated: Feb 21, 1998	More information: www.catholic-hierarchy.org

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Could This Be the Next Pope?
Apr 04, 2005
An Italian makes the early running in a race that dare not speak its name. Progressive groups such as the Community of Sant'Egidio like him — yet so does the Opus Dei.

(Time, Oct. 19, 2003) Not only is it considered impolitic to campaign for the papacy, it is also against Vatican law. The church bars elector Cardinals (those under 80) even from talking publicly about the matter. Still, as a frail John Paul celebrated the 25th anniversary of his papacy last week, a quiet campaign for the post is well under way, and an early — and active — front-runner is the Archbishop of Milan, Dionigi Tettamanzi. His transfer a year ago from the helm of the Genoa Archdiocese to the world's largest one, in Milan, was akin to winning a party nomination.

"He's a natural candidate," says longtime Vatican watcher Luigi Accattoli of Italy's leading daily Corriere della Sera. Tettamanzi, 69, stands out in the pack because he is favored by the Italian Cardinals, who are eager to take back the papacy.

Short, pudgy and quick to smile, the Milan leader has few enemies — a miraculous accomplishment in Vatican circles — and seems to win friends across the ideological spectrum. A moral theologian believed to have helped pen the Pope's seminal 1995 document on bioethics, Tettamanzi has strong conservative credentials. But he has also spoken out against the mistreatment of immigrants and in support of antiglobalization demonstrations. Progressive groups such as the Community of Sant'Egidio like him — yet so does the archtraditionalist Opus Dei. He can reach out to the laity as well: in September, the Archbishop showed up at the Monza racetrack for a spin in a Formula One car before the Grand Prix.

But Tettamanzi could see his prospects fade. Some feel the Cardinals will again look outside Italy, perhaps to Africa or Latin America, where an unabashed Catholicism is booming. And early buzz could wind up backfiring. "You can't seem to want it too bad," says a veteran Vatican official. Or, in the words of an old Vatican dictum, "He who enters the conclave as Pope exits as Cardinal."

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