Could hopes for change rise with white smoke?

Interesting times for us all, but particularly for those with a commitment to the Catholic Church and its mission. Sadly, I think the new pope will need ot be a Northerner, because the crises are in old Catholi countries: clerical abuse, wide-spread indifference even when consumerism doesn’t seem much of an alternative, division and the inability of the Vatican to administer itself. Put on top of that the need to reach out to the alienated liberal wing after 30 years of neglect, and you have a significant task for someone, who better be in stronger health than poor Ratzinger was by the end.