Author John Daniel Davidson profileThe papal conclave to elect a successor to Pope Francis will soon be underway in Rome. Cardinals from all over the world, 135 of whom are eligible to cast a vote, are now traveling to the Vatican. There they will meet behind the sealed doors of the Sistine Chapel, cut off from the outside world for as many sessions as it takes to elect a new pope.

Corporate and Catholic media alike are rife with predictions about who that might be. Lists of “papable” cardinals are popping up all over social media, but of course no one really knows what will happen in the coming days and weeks. While it’s true that Pope Francis himself has appointed 80 percent of the cardinal electors, they’re not all liberals cut from the same ideological cloth as Francis. What they’ll do is anyone’s guess. …