As a lifelong Catholic, I am sorry to hear of the Pope's health. I love my Catholic faith and no one does Easter (or Holy Week) like we do.

Who is going to be the next Pope? There are some strong candidates such as Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, 65, from The Democratic Republic of the Congo:

President of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, Fridolin Ambongo Besungu made headlines when he rejected a controversial declaration of Pope Francis -- with the papal blessing, no less.

The conservative Capuchin declared the doctrine of Fiducia supplicans -- which allowed priests to bless unmarried and same-sex couples -- null and void on the African continent. Besungu was able to achieve explicit blessing from Pope Francis in an emergency meeting in 2023 shortly after the release of that teaching, the Catholic Herald reported.

A Besungu papacy would be seen as a sharp rebuke of the left-leaning principles of Pope Francis. The current pontiff made Besungu a cardinal in 2019.

Rebuke of Pope Francis? I like that with all due respect to the ailing Pope.

Another good choice would be Cardinal Wim Eijk, 71, from the Netherlands. He is regarded as one of the most conservative of the front-runners.

There is also an American on the list: Cardinal Raymond Burke, 76. He is a proponent of the Latin Mass and a public critic of Pope Francis’ liberal tendencies.

I love the Latin Mass. My father was an altar boy in Cuba and learned all those Latin lines that we don’t hear anymore.

No one knows who it will be because it all happens in secret and we just get to wait. No polls here.

The Catholic Church has two serious problems, from losing members to a current Pope who keeps making the leftist case for illegal immigration and climate change.

So stay tuned. The smoke will eventually go up and a new Pope will reveal himself in the balcony. I’d love to see one of these three men on the balcony.

P.S. Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos.

Image: alex proimos