On the human level, it is practically certain the next pope will be a Pope Francis II, carrying on what Archbishop Vigano in a recent article called the “Bergoglian revolution.” My money is on them electing Cardinal Tagle of the Philippines, described as the Asian version of Pope Francis.
They will want to elect another non-Italian and minority to promote diversity. And they certainly don’t want an African. Yet, on a supernatural level, miracles are possible. The election of Cardinal Ratzinger in 2005 approached that.
On one hand, we must be pragmatic and look at the moral certainty that the suppression of Tradition and the TLM, and the deepening of modernism, will continue under a Pope Francis II. On the other hand, right now is precisely the time to offer up our daily crosses and prayers God might spare us, the way he spared the USA Kamala Harris. Miracles do happen.
Despite the majority of Cardinals being appointed by Pope Francis, many actually are from more conservative parts of the world, in particular Africa and Eastern Europe. So if the Holy Ghost, moved by our own prayers and sacrifices precisely at this moment, were to bring the cardinals to their senses, to avoid even more division in the Church caused by the radical progressive program of “Francis-Church,” I think they would seriously consider electing a conservative African who would in their mind be a balancing force for unity between conservatives and liberals, while in reality he would be objectively a force for at least moving the Church in the right direction of restoration.
Those who say Sarah won’t get elected cite Sarah’s criticisms of Pope Francis, yet in fact he, in contrast to Cardinal Burke, Mueller, and Zen, has not been directly confrontational to the pope but more diplomatic in his criticisms, whatever that is worth. This would make him a trustworthy “counter-weight” in their eyes, plus he is very popular and well respected, and most of all, in their mind, would represent expanding the diversity of the papacy (even though the pope should generally be Italian for all the good reasons the Church always had an Italian pope).
Therefore, while we must prepare ourselves for the high probability of a Pope Francis II, I am praying and offering up my own crosses right now it is not, and more specifically that it is Cardinal Sarah, who is, in a general way, a traditionalist, and would be a breath of fresh air and sign of hope for those who adhere to the orthodox Faith and liturgy. My first pick would be Bishop Fellay of the SSPX, or Bishop Athanasius Schneider (Vatican diplomat to the SSPX, who judged that the Society was not incorrect in its criticisms of Vatican II or the New Mass), but that’s not realistic. A Cardinal Sarah is much more realistic.