Miriam is pooh-poohing the report in Haa'retz that Jean-Marie Lustiger, the Jewish cardinal archbishop of Paris, has emerged as a late favorite to become the next Pope - at least according to the odds set by Irish bookies.
What neither Miriam not Ha'aretz mention is the impetus for this sudden change in the odds.
The Times has the story: [I]n 1139... an Irish saint called Malachy received (in a vision, naturally)... that only two popes would preside after the pontiff whom his adherents recognize as John Paul II, and that the second-to-last would be born a Jew. "Smart" money? Hmm.