Don't look now, but the city Canadians love to hate has an outside chance to be the hometown of the Holy Father to the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics.
Granted, Toronto Cardinal Thomas Collins, 66, is a long-shot to win the two-thirds majority of his 115 fellow cardinals when they enter the conclave here Tuesday to begin the process to select a successor to Benedict XVI. But he has attracted some notice among the international press here who have him in the second-tier group of potential popes.
As for the man himself, he's just happy to be a witness to one of the most historic papal elections ever.
Collins watched the elections of Benedict and the two John Pauls on TV and thought, "Gee, wouldn't it be exciting to be in the crowd (in Rome) to see the white smoke and everything," Collins told reporters here Sunday. "But now - oh my! -- I'm going to be there walking right into the Sistine Chapel and it's just amazing. It's very humbling and it's just awesome!"
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