Could Timothy Cardinal Dolan Actually Be Pope? Even Italians Are Warming up to the Idea

By Gyneth Sick
New York Daiy News
February 21, 2013

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/dolan-pope-article-1.1270268

Archbishop Timothy Dolan reacts to the Pope Benedict XVI resignation at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City on Feb. 11, 2013. Pope Benedict says he doesn’t have the strength to carry on. He is quitting as of Feb. 28.

ITALY IS warming to the idea of a New York pope.

The national daily Corriere della Sera lists Timothy Cardinal Dolan as one of the favorites to succeed Pope Benedict.

Timothy Cardinal Dolan is heading to Rome to see off retiring Pope Benedict — and possibly get the top job himself.

Insiders have long said the Vatican has an unwritten rule that no American will ever head the Catholic Church but the nation’s fourth largest daily, Il Messaggero, said the Holy See may be seeing the light.

“If the church’s new evangelization will come through a smile not a frown, maybe Dolan is the best candidate of all,” Il Messaggero writes.

Archbishop Timothy Dolan reacts to the Pope Benedict XVI resignation at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City on Feb. 11, 2013. Pope Benedict says he doesn’t have the strength to carry on. He is quitting as of Feb. 28.

Dolan will be in Rome when Benedict formally resigns on Feb. 28 — and he will stay there for the Sistine Chapel conclave to pick the new leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics in mid-March.