The most promising Pope candidates part III: Angelo Scola

Cardinal Scola: The Italy-favorite

Cardinal Angelo Scola from Milan presides over the largest diocese in Europe. He is regarded as a brilliant theologian and acknowledged expert on Islam.

Scola, Archbishop of Milan, and apparently spearhead of the mighty Italian faction in the Conclave, is considered to be one of the hottest candidates for the succession of Benedict XVI. In the past years and decades he has made a name for himself especially in the dialogue with Islam, but also as a brilliant conservative theologian.

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Born on November 7 1941, in Malgrate (Province of Lecco – Lombardy), Scola was ordained a priest in 1970. He studied philosophy at the Catholic University in Milan and theology in Fribourg (Switzerland), and taught Theological Anthropology at the Pontifical Lateran University since 1982. In 1991, he received the episcopal consecration. Seven years, from 1995 to 2002, he headed the Lateran University and the Pontifical Institute for Marriage and Family Studies.

In 2002, Scola was appointed Patriarch of Venice, in October 2003 John Paul II. elevated him to Cardinal. Benedict XVI. finally appointed him Archbishop of Milan in 2011, with about five million Catholics, the largest Diocese in Europe.

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The possible successor to Pope Benedict XVI.

These are some possible successor to the papacy:

OSCAR ANDRES RODRIGUEZ MARADIAGA (70) of Honduras, a Salesian, was sometimes hailed as the rising star of the Latin American Church. The polyglot cleric speaks a and passable German due to his psychotherapy studies in Innsbruck, Austria. He is an avid musician and is also open to ecumenical questions.

JORGE MARIO BERGOGLIO (76), is the Archbishop of Buenos Aires in Argentina and makes himself strong for the socially disadvantaged. Being a Jesuit, it is difficult to estimate whether this can be a disadvantage or advantage. Never in the history of the church was a Jesuit pope.

CHRISTOPH SCHĂ–NBORN (67): The Archbishop of Vienna has a reputation as a crisis manager after the scandals involving Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer and Bishop Kurt Krenn, but is also known for his conciliatory and pragmatic dialogue. After the resignation of Groer, who was involved in a child sex scandal in 1995, he became his successor. He made himself a name in the world as an editor of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. His liberal statements on homosexuality have caused some debates within the church.

Peter Erdö (60): The Hungarian is the Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest since 2003. He is also Primate of the country. In 2006 he was appointed President of the Council of European Episcopal Conferences.

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