Diplomacy Likely To Trump Geography In Choice Of New Pope

Source: International Business Times

The cardinals who will pick the next pope AFP Pope Francis smashed the stereotypical profile for a pontiff, becoming the Catholic Church's first leader from the Americas and the first non-European since the eighth century. Some hope his successor, to be chosen in a conclave of cardinals in the coming days or weeks, could come from Africa or Asia. The late Argentine pontiff championed far-flung regions long overlooked by the Church, whether in his cardinal appointments or in his travels that strayed off the beaten path, from Mongolia to Papua New Guinea.