Pope’s successor must be right choice or Church faces disaster

I WAS with a group of young people the other day when the news broke on a telly in the background. The Pope had resigned.

Astonishing, remarkable news. So I shushed the conversation, naturally, and turned to focus on the television. And the young people looked at me as if I had two heads.

It was clear that, in expressing an interest in the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, I had confirmed myself as a complete dinosaur (not the first time, of course). It was just as clear that the passing of a pope held absolutely no interest whatsoever for the young people I was with. And, over the following couple of days, the vast majority of people I met could care less.