• Growing calls for optional celibacy.

• Persisting demands for women's ordination and more.

Is there somebody out there who really wants this job?

Perhaps now, with confidence that a new precedent has been set and an actual well-deserved retirement would not be completely out of the question, someone will be courageous or foolhardy enough to step forward. And in an oddity of church tradition, that person need not be a cleric, only a baptized male. So if you are, feel free to submit your application to the College of Cardinals.

Meanwhile, let us pray whoever is the next pope is also equipped with compassion, mercy and vision.

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