# Who is papable right now? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 19, 2025, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-papable-right-now/1014475 "2025-02-19T01:01:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-papable-right-now/1014475/61 "2025-04-21T18:54:42Z")
**Moderator Note** Since we keep getting reports for the “spelling error” in the title, I think I should point out that it’s actually not a spelling error. Cite (From here: [PAPABLE Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/papable)): # papable ## [adjective](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adjective) pa·​pa·​ble ˈpāpəbəl **:** qualified for and considered likely to succeed to the [papacy](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/papacy) ## Word History Etymology Middle French, probably from Italian _papabile_ ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-papable-right-now/1014475/62 "2025-04-21T19:04:37Z")
I stand corrected. Thanks. 😊 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-papable-right-now/1014475/63 "2025-04-21T19:07:47Z")
Shame titles can’t have italics. I think > Who is _Papabile_ Right Now? would dispel most of the well-intentioned but unhelpful fussing. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-papable-right-now/1014475/64 "2025-04-21T19:43:02Z")
Agreed. And “papabile” is certainly more common than “papable” in this context, but whatevs. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-papable-right-now/1014475/65 "2025-04-21T19:46:10Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Pope Pizza Balls! > > Seriously, though, he’d be an interesting choice [Fr. Guido Sarducci] “Find the Pope in the Pizza Ball” [/Fr. Guido Sarducci] ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-papable-right-now/1014475/66 "2025-04-21T21:05:06Z")
Conventional wisdom holds that the College of Cardinals like to alternate a fat pope with a skinny pope. So expect a conservative pope who is not a Jesuit. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-papable-right-now/1014475/67 "2025-04-21T21:49:27Z")
And not from Southern America and probably nit from the Americas at all. Whether the rebound favors an Italian, a non-Italian European, or a non-European (read “African”) is TBD. In a multipolar world the fat / skinny dichotomy loses a lot of predictive power. Back when they were all Italian conservatives it was sooo much easier! ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-papable-right-now/1014475/68 "2025-04-21T21:55:23Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > or a non-European (read “African”) Or Filipino. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-papable-right-now/1014475/69 "2025-04-21T22:02:54Z")
Speaking of Filipinos, it is such a pity **[Cardinal Sin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaime_Sin)** is no longer eligible! I wonder which papal name he would have chosen, having to give up that one. ---
**Author:** ![Zoobi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/13edae/32.png) [@Zoobi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoobi)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-papable-right-now/1014475/70 "2025-04-21T22:44:08Z")
The American Catholics would very likely leave if a DEI cardinal is elected. A schism is real possibility and must be considered above almost all else. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-papable-right-now/1014475/71 "2025-04-21T22:47:44Z")
A lot of American Catholics already left over Francis’s policies. It would be amusing, if it weren’t so horrible, to watch their mental gymnastics as they try to justify how they’re still Catholic: “Oh, the Office of the Papacy still has absolute authority over the Church; it’s just the Pope himself who doesn’t have any authority”. I think that anyone who would leave because of the Pope’s mere identity is among those who have already left. More leftward policies, though, might increase the number of those who have left. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-papable-right-now/1014475/72 "2025-04-21T22:48:07Z")
Seriously? Are the cardinals in America as anti-DEI as Trump? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-papable-right-now/1014475/73 "2025-04-21T22:48:10Z")
> [@Zoobi](#): > > The American Catholics would very likely leave if a DEI cardinal is elected. What does DEI have to do with anything? The Philippines is one of the most Catholic countries in the world - far more than the United States, for instance. If anything, an American pope would be a “DEI” choice. ---
**Author:** ![Zoobi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/13edae/32.png) [@Zoobi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoobi)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-papable-right-now/1014475/74 "2025-04-21T22:49:29Z")
DEI means darker skin color in MAGAese, nothing more. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-papable-right-now/1014475/75 "2025-04-21T22:50:53Z")
Then if you’re using it that way, put it in parentheses to indicate that you’re speaking “MAGAese” rather than English. ---
**Author:** ![Zoobi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/13edae/32.png) [@Zoobi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoobi)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-papable-right-now/1014475/76 "2025-04-21T22:56:36Z")
Ok. I thought it was pretty common usage these days, but I can see how internationally it might not be yet. (I’m pretty sure it’s the same meaning in the UK these days though). ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-papable-right-now/1014475/77 "2025-04-21T22:59:05Z")
Let’s end this hijack by reminding everyone that DEI is an actual term with an actual meaning, and that the MAGA appropriation of it is a _slur_, one that is inappropriate for this board. ---
**Author:** ![Zoobi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/13edae/32.png) [@Zoobi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoobi)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-papable-right-now/1014475/78 "2025-04-21T23:08:43Z")
It’s divided with lots of money being pushed, which is what makes it chaotic. [https://thehill.com/opinion/congress-blog/religious-rights/5195260-catholic-voices-political-polarization/](https://thehill.com/opinion/congress-blog/religious-rights/5195260-catholic-voices-political-polarization/) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-papable-right-now/1014475/79 "2025-04-21T23:08:48Z")
I thought the thread title was “palpable” and wondered what it was about. I just know that he wanted to live long enough to attend the Easter service, and he did. Well done, good and faithful servant. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-papable-right-now/1014475/80 "2025-04-22T00:36:34Z")
> [@Zoobi](#): > > The American Catholics would very likely leave if a DEI cardinal is elected. A schism is real possibility and must be considered above almost all else. Spoken like a parochial provincial American. The loss of 100% of American Catholics would be little more than a rounding error in the total body. And is certainly a rounding error in their future growth. Most of the rest of Catholicism’s response would be “Good riddance! Don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out.” As an aside, over half of American Catholics consider the church far too conservative now. An increasingly loud but smaller reactionary group considers it far too liberal. Said another way, it doesn’t matter what Rome does: 40-60% of American Catholics will be disappointed to incensed to maybe quitting. So from everyone else’s POV, the Americans can simply be ignored; the controversy and screaming and losses are baked no matter who they choose for their own reasons. TL;DR: America does not matter to the Catholic Church. At all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-papable-right-now/1014475.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-papable-right-now/1014475.md?page=5)