MikeLigalig.com

Japan's 114-year-old Misao Okawa receives a certificate of the world's oldest woman, which was presented to her by Guinness World Records Japan Country Manager Erika Ogawa, at a nursing home in Osaka, western Japan.

http://www.voanews.com/

A firefighter rescues a car stuck in the frozen Schluchsee lake in the Black Forest region, southern Germany. According to the police, the car was empty.

http://www.voanews.com/

Neil Heslin, the father of a six-year-old boy, who was slain in the Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, on Dec. 14, 2012, holds a picture of himself with his son Jesse and wipes his eye while testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013.

http://www.voanews.com/

27 February 2013


Pope Benedict XVI waves from his popemobile as he rides through a packed Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican during his last general audience.

http://www.voanews.com/

ray brown is the name of this pub's resident cat

seriously, i was told by a vet that it happens to animal hair so i should not worry when our cats have falling hair sometimes.  ni-wonder man god ko sa una kay one of our cats took 3 years to grow her hair back.

planned next design for nutty, 3 months from now:


tomahawk, without the beard

pakapin:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WseMAmml-GE#
a very beautiful song from "the singing nun" (with apologies for not posting this at the thread for video songs)

no, nutty cannot sing this.  neither can i.

you mean, they molt morag lizard?  hehe, unique.

Quote from: islander on February 28, 2013, 03:05:18 PM

they said she got tired after being groomed


i knew that nutty will never look like a lion. i was simply curious. but nothing prepared me for her to end up looking like the singing nun!

mas maayo tingali ka molugod ni boknoy...

di bitaw ko pabor nga mopataas sa buok ug shih tzu unya taoran ug ribbons.  malooy ko sa iro nga mokaon ug moinom kay adto ang ending sa buhok, mamilit. besides, shih tzus are prone to high blood pressure with the heat.  mao nga kinahanglan hayahay ilang paminaw with the shortest hair possible. nutty is shaved once every 3 months.

they said she got tired after being groomed


i knew that nutty will never look like a lion. i was simply curious. but nothing prepared me for her to end up looking like the singing nun!

the result:

tadaaang...




the new beauty queen

my sms exchange with our 11-year-old on that fateful day:

our 11-year-old: hi mama... how does a lion look like for nutty?

me: look at a picture of a male lion with a mane.

our 11-year-old: ummm, we are already in [veterinary clinic]... and they don't have a pic. of a lion...

me: internet, please. you mean, they haven't groomed a lion? come on...

our 11-yeard-old: i mean... they are already asking how would nutty look like... theres no internet in [veterinary clinic]... and, they haven't groomed a dog like a lion...

me: they must know how a male lion looks like. like simba when he was grown.

our 11-year-old: hahahahah... they don't know how... the only question is: what happens to the neck and head?

me: bare face and top of head. hair is left uncut around area just behind the ears down to the neck. end of tail hair is also uncut. everything else is bare.

our 11-year-old: thanks mama... that was all we needed...

it was time to groom nutty our shih tzu...

inspired by a video here in tb about a dog whose hair was cut like a lion's and the 911 calls he inspired (everybody, even dogs, mutually inspire, right?), i thought it was time to have nutty's hair cut like a lion's too...

Big change

Norway, Sweden, Denmark and New Zealand are the top 4 countries with big change coins.  (norway's 1 krone is worth 18.2 US cents or 12 UK pennies.)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21572359

Small change

the philippine centavo ranks no. 10 in terms of smallness, after Uzbekistan, Burma, Tanzania, North Korea, Sri Lanka, Jamaica, Bangladesh, Guinea, and Madagascar.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21572359

in terms of worth, nothing beats uzbekistan's tiyin.


1 Tiyin = 1,999 u.s. cents or 3,038 uk pennies

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21572359

Quote from: chicogon on February 25, 2013, 10:41:19 AM


Dili ko Super Memeng pero taga Balingsya ko... palag?!!

give up na ko.  di tanang iring matulog ug lampaso.  di pod tanang lampaso katulgan ug iring.  now pa ko...

Quote from: chicogon on February 28, 2013, 10:51:04 AM
Personally, I think it's cool that somebody's questioning on our behalf. I have a questioning mind myself but I have no microphone nga makaabot sa Vatican or Holy Mother Church. Tagling siguro ning akong tingog, iro may mo towaw kung mo protesta ko.

sure nga mag-una gyod si imong booboy coorsu ug tubag.

Quote from: chicogon on February 28, 2013, 10:46:41 AM
Correction: Queen of Memeng

aw, hehe.  nagbasin-basin ba lang...

China, as anyone who has lived there knows, has virtually no safety controls on food and drugs. At the same time, it is in the midst of a no-holds-barred drive to increase its exports, and is heavily subsidizing its manufacturers to ship container loads of cheap goods of all kinds to the U.S. and other overseas markets. As a result, over the past few years, China has stealthily become the second-largest supplier of foreign toothpaste â€" and many other questionable food and drug products â€" to the U.S. market.

-from The Poisoning of America: China's Food and Drugs are Unsafe at Any Price, by Steven W. Mosher, http://pop.org/content/poisoning-of-america-chinas-food-and-drugs-1923

Quote from: islander on February 28, 2013, 10:53:34 AMWeb users in the Philippines were also reported to be angry, but there was no word of any official reaction.

way to go, philippines! leave that to bloggers.

Quote from: islander on February 28, 2013, 11:10:55 AM
3) it takes real unadulterated kindness to convince one's self that food handling in the kitchen of chinese restaurants is sanitary

years ago in northern germany, in that country where rules are strict and implementation stricter, a chinese restaurant was closed because it was discovered that its heaps of dressed chicken are placed on the floor!

on the other hand, SO WHAT? 

1) the better that they won't get my money
2) they're banning dogs because they might be tempted to serve the dog, not as a customer but as part of their menu
3) it takes real unadulterated kindness to convince one's self that food handling in the kitchen of chinese restaurants is sanitary
4) they depend too much on monosodium glutamate (vitsin to us mere customers)

Quote from: islander on February 28, 2013, 10:50:42 AM


The Beijing Snacks restaurant posted a notice saying that Japanese, Filipino and Vietnamese patrons are not welcome - and neither are dogs.

hehe, we should be flattered.  we're in the league of dogs.

Owner defiant

Some of that antipathy appeared to have been renewed by the restaurant sign, with thousands of posts on Vietnamese social networking sites and newspaper comment threads.

"The owner of the restaurant has obviously been brainwashed by their [China's] government," Facebook user Chung Pham wrote, according to the AFP news agency.

The state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper described the sign as an example of "extreme nationalism".

Web users in the Philippines were also reported to be angry, but there was no word of any official reaction.

In Beijing the restaurant owner, who gave his name only as Wang, told AFP he had not been asked to remove the sign by any officials.

"This is my own conduct," he told the news agency.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/

All three nations are involved in long-running maritime disputes with China over national boundaries in the East and South China Seas.

Mostly recently Beijing has been arguing with Tokyo over the Senkaku Islands - known as the Diaoyu Islands in Chinese - which are controlled by Japan but claimed by China.

Vietnam, the Philippines and Taiwan are also in dispute with China over the sovereignty of islands in the South China Sea.

Anti-China rallies were held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in December amid mounting frustration with Beijing.

An official at Beijing's Vietnamese embassy called the sign "unacceptable".

Vietnamese authorities "would take appropriate action to ensure that all sides respect and protect bilateral friendship", the official told the BBC.

The sign posted in the window of Beijing Snacks makes its intention clear in both Chinese and English.

"This shop does not receive the Japanese, the Philippines [sic], the Vietnamese, and dog", it says.

China restaurant bans Asian maritime dispute citizens

BBC
27 February 2013



A Beijing restaurant is refusing to serve customers from three Asian neighbours currently involved in simmering maritime disputes with China.

The Beijing Snacks restaurant posted a notice saying that Japanese, Filipino and Vietnamese patrons are not welcome - and neither are dogs.

The move provoked an angry reaction, with online commenters accusing the restaurant of "extremism" and "racism".

hehe, thanks fr chic.  i believe i have just been conferred the title of "queen of sheba"?

Quote from: hubag bohol on February 28, 2013, 09:07:51 AM
Hmm, sa dagan niining maong lambo kahinumdom man lang ta sa lantugi diri sa TB kabahin ni anhing Angelo Reyes...

i missed this, or have simply forgotten how it went...

tell me, was there some betting on whether he went to heaven or hell?

it seems like the academe (specifically the anthropologists) turned out to be less noble.

Ultimately, each person hungers for Truth that can only be filled by Jesus Christ.  However, it is imperative that we avoid being judgmental, antagonistic, or frustrated lest the Gospel message perish in our faults and mistakes.  In the end, the Church’s divine foundation will prevail against the winds of the times.

-from The Seven Great Threats to the Catholic Church in Modern America, S.M. Miranda, http://www.saintaquinas.com/modernism_intro.html

25 February 2013


A newborn elephant is pictured in the zoo of Copenhagen, Denmark. The unnamed elephant was born early this morning.

http://www.voanews.com/

A Kazakh hunter walks with his tamed golden eagle during an annual hunting competition in Chengelsy Gorge, some 150 km (93 miles) east of Almaty, Kazakhstan, Feb. 22, 2013.

http://www.voanews.com/

23 February 2013


A woman feeds birds on the banks of the Limmat river in Zurich, Switzerland.

http://www.voanews.com/

An amphibious bus 'Sky Duck' goes into the water during its trial run in Tokyo, Japan.

http://www.voanews.com/

Stalled vehicles are seen during a blizzard as traffic backs up on a major thoroughfare in Overland Park, Kansas, Feb. 21, 2013. A major winter storm pounded the U.S. Great Plains creating hazardous travel that resulted in at least one death, closing schools, scuttling air travel, and cutting off power to some communities.

http://www.voanews.com/

A protester jumps on a police vehicle as it passes by an anti-government protest in Cairo, Egypt.

http://www.voanews.com/

22 February 2013


A woman is rescued from flood waters by a resident standing on top of her car during heavy rain in Chalandri suburb north of Athens, Greece.

http://www.voanews.com/

The buckling of U.S. 89 is seen about 25 miles south of Page, Arizona, Feb. 20, 2013. Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) says what caused a 150-foot section of pavement to buckle might be what ADOT called a "geologic event." (Photo provided by ADOT)

http://www.voanews.com/

21 February 2013


A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows wounded Syrians after a powerful car bomb exploded near the headquarters of the ruling Baath party in the center of Damascus.

http://www.voanews.com/

a tribute to confused seuss:


confused shoes

whew!  even in the 20th century, people still tended to mix religion and politics, as if one threatens the other.

malibog gyod ko unsay angay i-ban ug prayer.  imagine how many filipinos pray this now, when every 3 o'clock tv and radio stations broadcast this prayer for all the faithful to join in, just like the angelus at 6 o'clock.  kapila ko maabti nga mohunong tanan sa department store when these prayers are broadcast over the store's sound system, at least in cebu.  we are the better for it. 

Quote from: Lorenzo on February 27, 2013, 02:41:21 PM
Now, this, is an example of Wisdom that comes from God.

do you happen to have an example of wisdom that comes from somewhere else, like below, in a place that i heard is called hell?

George Weigel (born 1951) is an American author and political and social activist. He currently serves as a Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Weigel was the Founding President of the James Madison Foundation. He is the author of the best-selling biography of Pope John Paul II, Witness to Hope and Tranquillitas Ordinis: The Present Failure and Future Promise of American Catholic Thought on War and Peace.

Weigel lived in Seattle, serving as Assistant Professor of Theology and Assistant Dean of Studies at the St. Thomas the Apostle Seminary School of Theology in Kenmore, and Scholar-in-Residence at the World Without War Council of Greater Seattle, before returning to Washington, D.C. as a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

-excerpts from wikipedia

Quote from: Lorenzo on February 27, 2013, 01:57:41 PM
You display no comprehension of what actually prevents HIV/AIDS in Africa, and you cling to the tattered myth of “overpopulation” at a moment when fertility rates are dropping around the globe and Europe is entering a demographic winter of its own conscious creation.

cry, my beloved country (not south africa but the philippines and its rh bill this time).

grabeha ni uy.  this is scholarly writing to the max!

Quote from: Lorenzo on February 27, 2013, 01:57:41 PM
You take the most rabid of the Pius XII-baiters at face value, evidently unaware that the weight of recent scholarship is shifting the debate in favor of Pius' courage in defense of European Jewry (whatever one may think of his exercise of prudence).

egad!

judging from his surname, weigel must also be german, or at least of german descent.  wow!

there was this other intellectual german giant who went against the authorities of the church in his time: martin luther.  we know what happened next.  i daresay the catholic church authorities are more circumspect and enlightened now, not quick to condemn, more tolerant of the noise that comes out in the marketplace of ideas.

all in the name of intellectual discourse, lorenz, which is good for the church.  but authority and unity are something else, as we all know.  it takes time for a seed of an idea to bear fruit, if ever it does at all, but heresy it is not.  thankfully, we're in an age when burning at the stake is no longer the way to repudiate new ideas about faith and our relationship with our god.

Quote from: chicogon on February 27, 2013, 11:38:14 AM
In 100 years we will know. That's equivalent to 1 year for the Catholic Church. For arguing a Cardinal is as good as "condenado." It doesn't matter how good you are or sincere or how many STDs you have under your belt. Condenado is condenado! What direction do you go but find the exit... which he did. Another sad story for a local church.

hahay, authority is authority gyod diay, bisan asa.  growing up, condemned ko nga ako ray mosukol sa among papa.  (sa amo pa nga hasta permanent seating arrangement sa dining table naa poy rank... the younger you are in the family, the farther is your seat from the parents.)  kay ako ra lagiy mosukol, ang mga maguwang moduko lang kun kasab-an pero ako nga manghod motibad gyod, aw, daghan kog labod.  but everyone knows nga ako ang apple of the eye ni father dear.  giing-ana pa unta si fr aloy, the cebu archdiocese wouldn't have suffered such a loss...

Quote from: chicogon on February 27, 2013, 11:58:10 AM
If my will is to be done here (Bayoulandia of the Creoles) is where I would love to do my exit to kinabuhing dayon (it has been willed but Thy will be done)

salamat nga dili in your own good time but in HIS.  so many songs still need to be sung...

mag-dung-ag usa ko... hallelujah!

ngilngiga ani uy.  to read this whole thing seriously is to bask in one's faith, joyfully.  i choose to read this over and over.  hallelujah!

Quote from: islander on February 27, 2013, 10:33:07 AM
would-have-been a heretic, but not quite...


Pierre Teilhard de Chardin SJ


Pierre Teilhard de Chardin SJ (French; May 1, 1881 â€" April 10, 1955) was a French philosopher and Jesuit priest who trained as a paleontologist and geologist and took part in the discovery of Peking Man and Piltdown Man.

-wikipedia

Quote from: chicogon on February 27, 2013, 10:47:04 AM
I studied Fr Teilhard de Chardim too at Tagaytay.... wasn't he excommunicated too for teaching something the Church didn't understand at that time? I thought he was vindicated later on...

more than vindicated...

The 1950 encyclical Humani generis condemned several of Teilhard's opinions, while leaving other questions open. However, some of Teilhard's views became influential in the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. More recently, Pope John Paul II indicated a positive attitude towards some of Teilhard's ideas. In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI mentioned Teilhard's idea of the universe as a "living host". (wikipedia)

Quote from: chicogon on February 27, 2013, 10:47:04 AM
I studied Fr Teilhard de Chardim too at Tagaytay.... wasn't he excommunicated too for teaching something the Church didn't understand at that time? I thought he was vindicated later on...

another guy ahead of his time.  patuga kog basa sa iyang works in college, nahagbong hinoon kog biology kay priority nako iyang books and not my lessons.  karon, wa na gyod koy mahinumduman unsa tong akong gipangbasa.

Quote from: chicogon on February 27, 2013, 10:43:11 AM
Galileo! Galileo! Galileo figaro magnifico... oooh!

Galileo Galilei trial, 1633

And yet it moves.
-Galileo supposedly uttered this in support of his belief that the earth moved around the sun, a belief that was considered heretical at the time, thus the trial.

Galileo's recantation:

I, Galileo, son of the late Vincenzo Galilei, Florentine, aged seventy years, arraigned personally before this tribunal, and kneeling before you, Most Eminent and Reverend Lord Cardinals, Inquisitors-General against heretical depravity throughout the entire Christian commonwealth...

...I have been pronounced by the Holy Office to be vehemently suspected of heresy, that is to say, of having held and believed that the Sun is the center of the world and immovable, and that the earth is not the center and moves...

(full text of Galileo's recantation at http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/galileo/recantation.html)

would-have-been a heretic, but not quite...


Pierre Teilhard de Chardin SJ


Pierre Teilhard de Chardin SJ (French; May 1, 1881 â€" April 10, 1955) was a French philosopher and Jesuit priest who trained as a paleontologist and geologist and took part in the discovery of Peking Man and Piltdown Man.

-wikipedia

Quote from: chicogon on February 27, 2013, 10:16:30 AM
Hahahaha. Tinuod jud. Bahalag bright pa ko, they can have the job. Ari na lang ko uban ni Tampolano ug Tampolano kay naa pay room for mortal men. But I love listening when they come up with stuff... because I used to come up with stuff also at different stage in my life. In fact, as a sinner like everybody else, I also come up with heretical and questioning thoughts that nobody will ever get to hear. That's the provilege of being not part of the theological forum bwahahaha. Our friend Alloysius Cartagenas in now one of them and he gets criticized to the max even for a beautiful article he wrote defending Pope Benedict XVI's resignation, bwahahaha. And this guy is one I have my highest respect and whose opinion I always seek...

aaahhh, questioning minds make for the church's dynamism.  aggiornamento! 

(fr aloy may turn out to be right about his attitude and reasons about the cebu archdiocese in the recent past... ssshhh... i'm still hoping he's wrong, huhuhu.)

Quote from: chicogon on February 27, 2013, 10:08:25 AM
I think the Church needs one like him. Vatican II in the mid 60's redefined the Church as the People of God - 99.9% laity - but look who's running the lives of the 99.9%? the 1%. That's another hand-grenade courtesy of a respectable monsignor/teacher from my Archdiocese hahahaha!

just the same, i will trust that 1%, fr chic.  that small percentage is trained for things spiritual while the bigger percentage is in the rat race.

reassuringly, that hand grenade is not from a suicide bomber but from a miner who's out to seek the gold nugget of additional verities amid current realities.   

Quote from: chicogon on February 27, 2013, 09:59:05 AM
Yes, as a theologian and a member of the Cathlic Theology Forum duna siyay privilege just as respectable as the others. Duna say daghang mga sipok ug ulo like the Liberation Theologians. But once you're in (di basta-basta and probably by invitation only (another politics in Church) you become or are considered authority on the subject, orthodox or questionable. Of course, there's the Church' Magisterium (teaching authority) to monitor these theologians. Either they give an imprimatur or nihil obstat or they ask some to recant if the teaching or a certain article the teaching magisterium deem questionable. Either that writer is called to defend one's theology or he/she receives a sanction immediately or whatever. But for what they say the Church listens as well as the other members of the forum with utmost respect. After all, their reputation and sometimes their membership in the Church is at stake. Di lalim trabaho aning mga theologians. They are usually matters of faith and morals. Usang sipyat, a difference in eternity!!! Toinks!!!

unimaginable.  makahahadlok.  kun pari pa ko, adto na lang tingali ko sa pongkay mag-parish priest nungka adto ko i-assign sa magisterium nga maglurat lang ko kanunay.

there's a long list of condemned and executed heretics in church history.  one became a saint--joan of arc, she who led men to battle and secured the crown for the french king but who was burned at the stake at the age of 19 anyway.

i believe the church is more enlightened now and is no longer quick at condemning people as heretics as in the old days when the undercurrents were actually politics and temporal power.

aguy!  simbako palayo.  bug-at na kaayo ning dapita da...

20 February 2013


A girl, who returned from school, cries upon seeing her house destroyed after a jet missile hit the al-Myassar neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria.

http://www.voanews.com/

whew!  many years ago i watched a documentary on how canadians club seals to death for sport.  children took part, and they were smiling.  it was bloody, cruel and barbaric.

homo sapien

Quote from: Votives on February 26, 2013, 10:23:41 AM
Always remember you Are Still Here so
YOU
Are Able to Get Back Up.

Quote from: hubag bohol on February 26, 2013, 05:04:44 PM
For others, what they want is to be able to
Get It Up.

no wonder they don't remember who or what got up again.

very nice.  he might as well have spoken for most if not all of us.

hehe, mora man pod hinoon ug crown of thorns ang barbed wire kun gituliyok pag-paint...

unsa nga bangko ang modawat ani nga deposits, seuss?  naay akong daghan ani nga gianay na.

mini mani.  tua sa lain nga thread ang maxi mani.

buotan si bantai.  sayang nga ang tag-iya niliwat sa pony.

aw, ikaw bay katol ug tiyan, lalim ba.

hanap lang ug pikas mata kay nagmantinir man ug monocle.

hot cat here is actually cold.  i thought you were the half-brother of confucius who's a cousin of dr seuss.

the great dr seuss

Confucius

hi, confused seuss.  i'm the hat in the cat.  welcome to tb!

Giuseppe Cacace/Getty Images

Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, 68, Austria

The National Catholic Reporter has called Schönborn "among the most interesting figures in the global church."

Schönborn studied under Pope Benedict XVI and has known the pontiff for decades, however, he has exhibited an independent streak, often going against traditional judgment.

Last year, the Austrian stepped in when one of his priests denied a gay man the right serve on parish council after he was overwhelmingly elected.

The cardinal went so far as to host the man and his partner for lunch, The Associated Press reported, and declared him to be "at the right place."

Schönborn has been a critic of the church's handling of its sex-abuse cases. He was rebuked by the Vatican after he reportedly accused Cardinal Angelo Sodano, former secretary of state, of blocking a sexual abuse investigation.

"It should be remembered that in the church, when there are accusations against a cardinal, the competence rests solely with the pope; others may have an advisory role, always with the proper respect for the person," a Vatican statement said, according to the Catholic News Service.

It's the cardinal's tendency to go against the grain in the church that might make him not a viable pick, Bunson said.

It hasn't stopped the oddsmakers from talking about him, though. Irish betting house Paddy Power has Schönborn listed at odds of 16 to one of becoming pope.

Benedict had similar odds before the conclave, Paddy Power spokesman Féilim Mac An Iomaire said, but crept into the front-runner position when the conclave began.

http://abcnews.go.com/

Franco Origlia/Getty Images

Timothy Cardinal Dolan, 63, New York

While the thought of an American pope has long seemed impossible, Cardinal Dolan should not be ruled out, Alvaré said.

"History is changing," she said. "We've been at this a while here in the states, [although] not anywhere as long as Europe."

Dolan, an affable cardinal well-known by Catholics in the U.S. and abroad, "has been grappling with some of the leading questions that face the church for the future," Alvaré said.

In September 2012, along with comedian Stephen Colbert, he co-led a discussion on faith and humor at Fordham University.

"If I am elected pope, which is probably the greatest gag all evening, I'll be Stephen III," he told the crowd of students.

Despite Dolan's good standing, Bunson said he has some doubts.

"It strikes me as unlikely, simply because we are the world's last superpower," he said of the U.S. "So I think that might factor in."

Daniel Dal Zennaro/AFP/Getty Images

Tarsicio Cardinal Bertone, 78, Italy

The current Cardinal Secretary of State is a strong candidate if the Holy Spirit wants another great European mind at the helm of the church, Alvaré said.

Bertone runs the day-to-day business of the Roman Curia, the Vatican's government.

He has reportedly been criticized by Vatican officials for his handling of issues ranging from sexual abuse in the church to Vatican finances.

In an open letter last year, Pope Benedict XVI acknowledged the in-fighting and pledged his support for his secretary of state.

"I've noted with regret the unjust criticism directed at your person," the pope wrote. "I intend to reaffirm my pledge of personal faith in you."

Although he's held in high regard by the pope, Bunson believes Bertone's age will keep him from the papacy.

"His age is against him," he said, pointing out that Bertone is the same age as his boss when he was elected.

Franco Origlia/Getty Images

Angelo Cardinal Bagnasco, 70, Italy

The Archbishop of Genoa has a "reputation for intellectual heft," Bunson said.

Bagnasco, two-time president of the Italian Bishops Conference, has a history of taking a strong stance on church doctrine.

In 2007, he was the subject of death threats after he led a campaign against proposed Italian legislation to grant some legal rights to unmarried couples, including people in same-sex relationships.

Italians form the largest voting block in the College of Cardinals, with 25 percent of the seats, and could help propel Bagnasco into the papacy.

Alessandra Tarantino/AP Photo

Leonardo Cardinal Sandri, 69, Argentina

With a large center of Catholic faithful in Latin America, Sandri could become the first pope from the region.

The 69-year-old, who was born in Argentina to Italian parents, served as a chief of staff in the Vatican, often reading public message when Pope John Paul II was in declining health.

It was Sandri who announced the passing of the pontiff in St. Peter's Square on April 2, 2005.

"He's well-liked around the world," Bunson said.

He currently serves on the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, acting as a liaison with Eastern European Catholic churches.

Sandri is fluent in English, Spanish, Italian, German and French.

Quote from: Mr.Money on February 25, 2013, 05:32:22 PM
And then there is another candidate, the "Wojtyla from the Far East, Luis Antonio Tagle, Archbishop of Manila in the Philippines. He is said to possess the brain of a theologian and the heart of a shepherd, as well as being more charismatic than most in the College of Cardinals. But at 55, he is also the second youngest in the College of Cardinals, practically a baby by Vatican standards.

would have been great for our nation, but it's too much too soon.  he had become a cardinal for less than a year.  i was never hopeful about this, though it's a great dream to dream.

Gregorio Borgia/AP Photo

Peter Cardinal Turkson, 64, Ghana

Turkson, who hails from Ghana, may be in the running.

He is currently the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, a post he was appointed to by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009.

The job has sent Turkson, who speaks six languages, around the world to handle mediations.

"The fact that an African cardinal is a candidate to be elected pope is the statement to the diversity of the church and the remarkable growth around the world," Bunson said.

Turkson discussed the possible of a black pope at a press conference in 2009, following the U.S. presidential election.

"And if by divine providence -- because the church belongs to God -- if God would wish to see a black man also as Pope, thanks be to God," he said.

Francis Cardinal Arinze, from Nigeria, has also been discussed as a potential pope.

Ralph Orlowski/Getty Images

Marc Cardinal Ouellet, 68, Canada

The former Archbishop of Quebec, who now heads the Congregation of Bishops, has a deep knowledge of the global workings of the church, Bunson said.

"He has had a major role in the appointment of the church's leaders around the world," Bunson said.

And he points out that at 68 years old, Ouellet has age on his side.

Ouellet is someone who could have "worldwide reach," Alvaré said.

"The man who is chosen for the position he has is someone who is understood to have the presence and the future of the church in mind," she said.

Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images

Angelo Cardinal Scola, 71, Italy

Scola was named the Archbishop of Milan in 2011, a prominent post in the Roman Catholic church.

"If we had to pick a front-runner, it's him," Bunson said. "He first is a brilliant theologian and has the intellectual heft to be pope, which is crucial. He has the clear favor of Pope Benedict.

Milan and Venice together have produced five popes in the past century.

Scola is also committed to promoting an understanding across faiths.

He started the Oasis Foundation in 2004, which helps bridge a dialogue between Christians and Muslims.

Helen Alvaré, a professor of law at George Mason University and an advisor to Pope Benedict XVI's Pontifical Council for the Laity, agreed that Scola will be considered papabili -- an Italian word for someone highly qualified for the papacy.

"It would not be surprise me if a Scola, or another great European mind also was determined to be what was needed for the times," she said.

Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images

Gianfranco Cardinal Ravasi, 70, Italy

The Italian cardinal is a "deep thinker" who has worked to foster a dialogue between believers and secular forces, Bunson said.

Ravasi serves as the president of the Pontifical Council for Culture and is one of the most prolific tweeters in the College of Cardinals, sending messages from his @CardRavasi handle several times a day.

As a pope, Ravasi would "be engaged with culture and rebuilding culture and civilization in general," Bunson said. "He would be a powerful pick."

Joseph Ratzinger, an intellectual and respected cardinal from Germany, was the front-runner for the papacy in 2005, Bunson said. When elected, he became Pope Benedict XVI.

This year, there are no strong favorites.

"The door, in a way, is very much open," Bunson said.

Here's a quick look at some of the possible picks for pope:

-excerpt from http://abcnews.go.com/International/pope-benedict-xvi-resignation-expert-picks-pontiff/story?id=18466161#all

-all images sourced from various websites

the crowd:

By DAVID WRIGHT (@abcdavid)
VATICAN CITY, Feb. 24, 2013

More than 100,000 pilgrims came to St. Peter's Square today to attend Pope Benedict XVI's last Sunday prayer and blessing. The crowd interrupted the pope several times with applause, but Benedict was business as usual.

Apparently he is not big on goodbyes.

This was the last time the world will see him in the window for his Sunday noon appointment with the faithful.

more at http://abcnews.go.com/International/pope-benedict-xvi-final-sunday-blessing-papal-conclave/story?id=18580005