Factors Shaping the Choice of Pope Leo's Successor
SOME interesting facts concerning the conditions which will influence the choice of Pope Leo’s successor, and the manner in which the choice will be made, are given by the Rome correspondent of the London Pall Mall Gazette. He says:— A prominent prelate has just said to me: “The next conclave, before thinking of individuals, will decide first whether the successor of Leo XIII shall be a cardinal of curia,—that is, one who has moved among the intrigues of the Vatican,—or one who has lived out of the Eternal City. Afterward will have to be decided whether the series of political popes shall be continued, or one entirely devoted to religion chosen. In the former case, the discussion will be over having a pope favorable to the Latin elements, who, taking things as they are to-day, would be Cardinal Rampolla, or one standing for the Anglo-Saxon Teutonic countries, who would be personified in Cardinal Serafino Vannutelli. If, on the other hand, the decision is for a purely and entirely religious pope, the candidates might be two: Gotti, supported by the conservative and more intransigent elements, and Capecelatro, the learned archbishop of Capua.” There is probably no event which is more largely determined by intrigue than the selection of a pope.