Next Pope Could be Black, Canadian, Say Oddsmakers

The first Black pope.  That’s what the online oddsmakers are betting on.

Most of the online bookmakers had Ghana’s Cardinal Peter Turkson as the favourite on Monday following Pope Benedict’s announced retirement, though these odds were made longer Tuesday at 4/1 with Canada’s Cardinal Mark Ouelette now the frontrunner.

Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze was also listed with short odds of 6/1.

“The Vatican Ready to Make History” was the headline with accompanying photo (shown here) featured at the Weekly World News.  One of the least far fetched stories featured on that popular “news” site.

Business Insider noted that the 64-year-old Turkson, currently head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, is considered “a superstar in the College of Cardinals, a great communicator, and symbol of the global reach of the Church.”

Or there could be the first Canadian Pope, as odds suggested Tuesday morning.  

He’s whiter than a polar bear for the record.

“The Canadian in me would be terribly proud if the first pope elected from outside Western Europe in 1,000 years was Canadian,” said Father Jacques Monet, a Jesuit priest based in Montreal, who is an archivist, historian and director of the Canadian Institute of Jesuit Studies. “People say that it’s time to have a pope from outside Western Europe. Is it time for an African? Is it time for a Latin American? I suspect those parts of the world might come before North America.”

- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com