Do you think the next pope will be conservative or traditional?
A viewer, expecting that Pope Francis will pass away in the near future, asks whether Robert thinks the next pope will be conservative or traditional.
Answer
His days are numbered, as are all our days, but his are really numbered because of his age, so he will not be around long. Do I think the next pope will be conservative? No. I do not think there is any of them left, to be frank with you, at least none on the scale of a Pius X. Do you think we will ever get a Pius X again? Not unless there is an absolute evangelical revolution in the Catholic Church, which is about as likely as finding a three-dollar bill. Now, I will not limit God; He can do anything He wants. But when you read about the same things happening in the days of Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Micah, and Amos, you do not see fortunes making a total reversal. It happened once in Israel, under King Josiah, who turned things around after the Mosaic law was rediscovered in the archives, and it lasted a few decades. He was one of only three kings of Judah whose epitaph said he did good in the sight of the Lord, out of twenty; the northern kings had twenty kings and not one had a good epitaph. So a reversal is possible, but rare, and I would not count on the next conclave producing it.