Considered to be among the two most likely front-runners for the Papacy, 68-year-old Cardinal Marc Ouellet is a likely choice.
Having voiced support and openness to the Jewish community and reconciliation of Catholic-Jewish relations, Ouellet is a favored candidate by many in the Jewish community. Victor Goldbloom of the CJC is quoted as saying, “He is a friend of the community, for whom I have a great deal of esteem.”
Cardinal Ouellet was at IsraCast’s Jerusalem Recording Studios in 2009 while accompanying (then) Pope Benedict XVI () on his visit to Israel, and IsraCast’s Executive Producer, Avi Yaffe, recalls him as being a pleasant and smiling man. “He seemed to connect with those around him on a simple and human level, rather than being ‘above’ and unreachable.”