Speculation about Cardinal Burke as the next Pope

I think this is a very long shot, but we’ll see.  I think there will be a non-European Pope from the ‘third world’ before an American Pope, if there ever is an American Pope, but the secular NRO speculates that there could be a compelling case for Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke:

That there are insider rumblings on this from within Vatican circles, suggesting a change in perspective, is therefore quite interesting. Based on my own observation of Dolan (in the pulpit, on TV, and in his writings), he is both a friendly and charming man and a strong evangelizer. I could see him being quite credible as Pope. But the particular sort of American that Dr. Moynihan’s source appears to be looking for would be someone more aggressively and explicitly conservative on matters of church discipline — and that, to me, suggests Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, the archconservative former archbishop of St. Louis who is now one of the most powerful figures in the Vatican.

If the cardinals choosing the next Pope want to crack down on dissent, and a Cardinal’s being an American is no longer an obstacle to his being elected Pope, then Burke would be a very strong choice

It would actually make sense, in the light of recent history, for the cardinals to choose an American Pope, on the analogy of the election of Karol Wojtyla in 1978. At that time, the greatest world-historical threat to the church was the Communist Bloc; so they elected a Pope from within that bloc, who understood it intimately. If they decide that the greatest threat in the immediate future is the rampant secularism/Sexual Revolutionism/consumerism/Protestantism exported throughout the world by the U.S.A., an American Pope might be the one to lead that particular resistance. (If, on the other hand, they view the rise of an aggressive Muslim world as the chief threat, they might consider Cardinal Turkson of Ghana.)

The article begins with some comments from Robert Moynihan, speaking with an unnamed but apparently connected curial official, who states that, with Europe rapidly imploding, there may be an interest in having a non-European Pope to reach out to the broader world.  I actually pray regularly that Cardinal Burke, or a man very similar to him (like Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith) would be elected the next Pope, but I’m not overly sanguine at the prospects.  We’ll have to see how the Spirit moves the College of Cardinals at the next conclave, which, I also pray, will not be anytime soon! 

I am certain Cardinal Burke would make a truly fantastic Pope, one for the ages. We certainly know he has a strong affinity for the traditional form of the Mass.