John Allen, Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter, lays out some of the reasons why an American pope would be unlikely:
"The fundamental impediment to an American papacy, however, is that the Vatican prizes its diplomatic independence far too seriously to elevate a superpower pope. The ‘Holy See’ is a sovereign entity that exchanges ambassadors with 174 nations and international organizations. Regardless of what that pope himself thought or felt, many people around the world would be tempted to see his decisions as somehow skewed by virtue of his citizenship. That would be especially ominous in the Middle East; it would be difficult for many people not to conclude that the pope’s policies are influenced by virtue of his nationality, no matter what he did. It would probably also be the end of Vatican attempts to improve things for Christian communities in Cuba, Vietnam, China, and across the Islamic world."
Interestingly enough, though, Allen does think that there might be an American who would be a good bet for the papabile list, if only he weren’t American:
"Having said that, is there an American cardinal who might be a formidable candidate if not for his nationality?
"The quick answer is ‘yes’: Cardinal Francis George of Chicago. George, who spent years in Rome as the superior of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, knows the inner world of the Vatican, and yet he is not a creature of it. He also speaks Italian with ease. He’s led a complex archdiocese for years, and by most accounts handled it rather well. One indication of the esteem in which he’s held is that he is widely sought after as a guest speaker at Vatican events, a distinction that few cardinals enjoy. George is by universal consensus the intellectual leader among the Americans, someone who devours two newspapers and a theological work before breakfast."
Well, even if Cardinal George is not tapped for Rome, it is good to know that Chicago is in good hands. By the way, Allen’s book Conclave is a helpful guide to papal elections.
