Bookmakers picking favorites in papal election
Associated Press
April 4, 2005 POPE0405.ODDS


DUBLIN, Ireland -— An Italian and a Nigerian cardinal are tied as Irish bookmakers' favorites to succeed Pope John Paul II.

More than 5,000 people have placed bets on who will be the next pope with Paddy Power PLC, Ireland's largest bookmaking chain.

The early favorites are Dionigi Tettamanzi of Italy and Francis Arinze of Nigeria, both listed on 11-4 odds. That means a winning $4 bet would pay out $15.

Betting resumed today in shops and on the Internet on the question, "Who will be the next pope?'' The firm had suspended betting for one day Sunday out of respect to John Paul, who died Saturday.

The biggest bet so far, $1,300, has been on Tettamanzi. The company said most bets are for much smaller amounts.

Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras is third with 9-2 odds, while Joseph Ratzinger of Germany and Claudio Hummes of Brazil both follow with odds of 7-1.

Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino of Cuba, Ennio Antonelli of Italy and Christoph Schoenborn of Austria come next, all at 14-1. Giovanni Battista Re of Italy stood alone at 16-1, while three others — Dario Castrillon Hoyos of Colombia, and Crescenzio Sepe and Giacomo Biffi, both of Italy — merited 18-1.

__________________
It's a friendlier OKCTalk!

I was looking into the possibility of Rodriguez, but there's a story floating around that he once harbored a fugitive priest trying to evade a molestation rap.

http://www.natcath.com/NCR_Online/ar...04/070204l.htm

One of my correspondents leans toward Ratzinger, though I suspect that being part of the Curia, the Vatican bureaucracy, might actually count against him.

I guess we can discuss that as well

I just thought it was humorous that people will gamble on ANYTHING -- although, I couldn't think of a safer bet for the house.

Anyhow, I think the College will surprise us yet again. All that is certain is that the next Pope will not be from the United States. Other than that, it's hard to guess.

__________________
It's a friendlier OKCTalk!

There is, I think, some substantial sentiment for picking a non-European, though certainly not an American. It's no particular secret that the Third World is where most of the Church's growth has been in recent years, while the Western congregations seem to be in disarray.

April 18th is when the conclave begins. You might want to get your bets down folks

__________________
It's a friendlier OKCTalk!