There are more than 470,000 Catholics in Iowa, most of whom will be watching closely as cardinal electors convene in the Sistine Chapel starting today for the secretive conclave to choose a new pope.
University of Iowa religious studies professor Kristy Nabhan-Warren says millions of dollars in contracts are being traded in online prediction markets as people bet on the next pope’s identity.
“This is very new and this is very much part of our postmodern world and online betting, which I personally find highly problematic, and I think it’s really controversial,” Nabhan-Warren says. “It’s highly unsavory and tasteless and tacky to a lot of practicing Catholics I’ve talked to here in Iowa.”
For centuries, there’s been enthusiastic speculation about the picking of a pontiff, but betting on the outcome could be grounds for excommunication.
Nabhan-Warren says the papal selection process is fascinating to millions around the globe, and she predicts many Iowans will be keeping an open screen on their computers or phones to watch that famous chimney in Vatican City.
“There’s a kind of mystery to it. There’s a kind of beauty to it, and there’s an excitement, waiting to see the light smoke,” Nabhan-Warren says. “I remember when Pope Francis was selected 13 years ago, and I remember as a non-Catholic who’s invested in studying Catholicism, and just being glued to the screen. So there’s a kind of excitement, yes, and a sacred excitement, I would call it.”
Pope Francis, who died April 21st at age 88, was the first Latin American pope and the first pope from Argentina. Nabhan-Warren says his influence will be evident as a successor is chosen.
“This pope named the vast majority of the cardinal electors, you know, the cardinals who can vote at this conclave — there’s 135 and he named 108 of them,” Nabhan-Warren says. “So, I think that there’s a strong chance that we will see a non-European pope. I think it’ll be interesting to see. I think this could be a real change.”
Francis was also the first pope to be a Jesuit, the first pope from the Southern Hemisphere, and the first born or raised outside Europe since the 8th century — Syrian pope Gregory III.