Cardinal AppiahTurkson: God Ordain Leaders

Cardinal Peter Appiah Turkson, who is being flaunted as a possible successor to Pope Benedict XVI says he would rather want people to trust in God to choose the best leader for the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Benedict XVI stunned the world with his announcement to retire on Monday. His retirement will take effect on February 28, two months before his 86th birthday due to health reasons. The President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace at the Vatican, Cardinal Appiah Turkson in an interview with BBC Focus on Africa has debunk reports from the media saying he will be the right choice to succeed Pope Benedict. �People are free to speculate and people are free to make their own judgments. I suppose if it comes to looking for leadership, then I think the thing we should be doing is rather pray to God, the leader and owner of this Church, to give a leader who is fit to lead this group at this point in time and in history,� he stated. Meanwhile some Vatican expert watchers have named five Italian �Papabile� who are likely to be the next pope. According to the Vatican watchers: Cardinal Angelo Scola, Archbishop of Milan;Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, Archbishop of Genoa;Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the Canadian-born former Archbishop of Quebec;Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture and Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, the head of the Vatican's office for the Eastern Catholics and a longtime Vatican diplomat are among five top picks to be named as the next pope. Roman Catholic Church law requires cardinals and the pope's chief advisers to elect his successor. There are 208 cardinals from 68 nations but only those under age 80 are eligible to vote. However the number of cardinals who enters the Sistine Chapel to choose the next pope depends on how quickly the conclave is called. Currently 118 are eligible to vote.