The papal election is not a beauty contest

If we want to damage the chances of any cardinal, all we have to do is enthusiastically spread the word that he is expected to be elected head of the church in the May conclave. But if we are really interested in who the new pope will be, we can do something much more useful these days. Written by István Gégény.

Red. The author is a theologian and now a freelance journalist. He has been a church and religious expert at the Zurich Tages-Anzeiger for 33 years. In 2006 he received the prize for freedom in the church and in 2011 the Zurich Journalist Prize for the complete work. Last year he published the book "The Pope of Disappointments. Why Francis is not a reformer". Francis ordered his house, so it was called every time he had created new cardinals – p…