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It goes back to Pope Zozimus and 11 other Greeks and Syrians who were Popes of Rome after the formation of liturgical rites as we know them today.

Also the Armenian Catholic Patriarch was a close second to Blessed John XXIII in the voting.

I don't want to be a downer here but we should all pray that the Holy Spirit guide the college to vote for the man that God has chosen to lead the catholic communion. Then we should pray that he will lead His church and bring it back to union that it once had.

but not the rite/sui juris system as you know them today.

Abp. Zosimus, born in Italy, wouldn't have been much different at the time than your Popes Pius XI and Paul VI-both Ambrosian, not Roman, rite-of the previous century. The Constantinopolitan rite wasn't introduced into Italy until the seventh century. At the time of Abp. Zosimus' birth, c. 387 at the latest, Constantinople had no jurisdiction, and the DL of St. John Chrysostom hadn't been introduced yet (in fact, at the time New Rome wasn't in communion with Old Rome). If he was born before 381, Constantinople wouldn't have had autocephaly.

Popes Theodore I and John VI would come closest to fitting your bill, given their translations from Jerusalem and Ephesus.

Well, regardless of who's elected the new Pope, I'm sure it won't take much input to know that in these secular times in society, the next Pope will need to step up to all the wrong in the Western world. Having the government force us to go against our moral beliefs and conscience with the HHS mandate, with having to wed same gender couples, etc... I hope that the next Pontiff will put pressure on governments in the world to abide by the moral beliefs of all. Also, I'm hopeful that the next Pontiff will share the same leadership, dedication, and vision that the late Pope John Paul II had for the Catholic Church.

After all, it was Pope John Paul II that put pressure on governments of Eastern Europe, and contributed to the weakening, demise, and collapse of the Soviet Empire. We can only hope the next Pope will put this pressure on other governments to make sure the unborn have a chance to live their lives, and to preserve traditional marriages, and not to force us against these doctrines. I'm sure the Conclave of Cardinals will indeed make the right decision, and know who would be the best for times such as these.

Fr Deacon,

you're of course right that there have been Greek and Syrian popes in the past. I was thinking more in terms of the idea of an Eastern Catholic Pope as part of modern popular culture. I think Morris West's book and the film based on it played an important part in popularizing this idea. Sorry if I didn't make myself clear.

I think the Byzantine Rite came with Belisarius, but yes Pope St Theodore I is closest.

The Syro-Malabar and the Syro-Malankara Major Archbishops and the Maronite Patriarch are all cardinals and will be voting at the upcoming conclave. They are also eligible to be elected Pope.

I have to admit that, from an Orthodox perspective, I find the role of Eastern and Oriental Catholic cardinals electing the head of a sister church odd... Or are they not actually doing this, but choosing a bishop to have universal supremacy over all Catholics, regardless of rite? Perhaps I've not grasped the relationship between the papacy and the sui juris churches.

There is no monolithic uniformity of opinion on the topic. Many try (hint: they freak out about the topic) ... but no. :-)

Humbly, by "Roman Rite," I think you mean Latin Church. If so, that is true to a certain degree.

The papacy in my opinion, being a universal position, ideally should have universal candidates. An EC pope with some imagination could solve administrative issues.

Others will tell you it goes against certain ecclesiological theories they favor. Understandable to a degree. I don't think history bears out ecclesiastic rigidity ... but I have to go to work now, so unfortunately I can't explicate this further.

I think this raises an important issue. A pope with a gift for administration is greatly needed - a gift some predecessors have lacked.

Of course, if the Italo-Greek Albanian sui juris could have its see in Rome, as it should be, the problem of Latin rite and universal pontiff could be solved. After all, the Vatican has had three sui juris patriarchs in Alexandria, four in Antioch and two in Jerusalem. If the Latin rite can have a patriarch in Jerusalem, why can't the Romanians, for instance, have one in Rome?

The bishoprick of Rome has been abolished in the Vatican in favor of a universal super-bishop. Hence why the strain causing this retirement. What if the cardinals elected another "supreme pontiff," and left Abp. Benedict XVI to tend to the Roman diocese?

That would cause a certain amount of problems - as at the age of 75 an RC Bishop is required to submit his resignation to the Pontiff - this of course does not mean that it has to be accepted

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Now wouldn't that be somethin' !

Oh! Sure you want to go there?