USA Today's Mark Pinsky has a column today dedicated to Cardinal Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino, the current Archbishop of Havana. Though there's no shortage of cardinalatial news today, Pinsky's piece caught my eye because it suggests that the 74-year-old prelate might himself have a new post...as a political leader after the Castros:
[P]ost-Castro Cuba will need someone trusted by all segments of society to help shepherd this nation into a new era, without bloodshed or upheaval. [The cardinal] is that man. The son of a sugar mill worker, Ortega is uniquely equipped to fill any power vacuum.
It's an interesting (if unlikely) idea. As Pinsky notes in passing, though, the Vatican has shied away from allowing Catholic clergy and religious from playing a role in politics in an official capacity -- such as elected office or a senior government position.
