Pope Benedict XVI announced last month his resignation from the papacy. The 85-year-old pope alluded to the fact that his age and poor health were the reasoning behind his decision. With his departure from the Vatican, many are wondering who may replace him. Here is a list of potential candidates that may be elected to become the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

Cardinal Peter Turkson

Turkson is the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, and the Archbishop of Cape Coast, Ghana. In October Turkson made headlines when he showed a controversial video about Islam growth in Europe to a group of bishops at the Vatican. With that aside, his high stature in the church may make him the first black pope.

Cardinal Marc Ouellet

Ouellet originates from Canada and was elected and appointed to secretary of the Pontifical Council for promoting Christian Unity. He was consecrated in March 2001 by Pope John Paul II. Ouellet co-hosted an Americas Conference alongside Pope Benedict XVI in December 2012.

 Cardinal Francis Arinze

Cardinal Arinze is 80 years old and from Nigeria. He is the prefect of the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. He has also served as president delegate of the 2nd Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops. He may be a rival to Cardinal Turkson based on their similar backgrounds.

Archbishop Angelo Scola

Cardinal Scola serves as archbishop of Milan. He served in the College of Cardinals who elected Pope John Paul II to the papacy in 2003. He has doctorates in philosophy and theology.

Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga

Maradiaga is the first Cardinal to serve the Honduras and became archbishop of Tegucigalpa in 1993. He founded the Catholic University of Honduras, and has become one on of the most prominent figures in the Church from Latin America.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone

Cardinal Bertone is the secretary of state of the Holy Roman Church and formerly served as Archbishop of Genoa, Italy. His position in the church allowed him to serve alongside Pope John Paul II. With that in mind, he may have a fair chance at replacing the pope.

Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco

Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco is the current archbishop of Genoa, Italy. This multilingual cardinal was president of the Italian Episcopal Conference in March 2007. Bagnasco spoke openly about the necessity for Italian culture to change in regards to their negative birth rates. He warned that a society without children will crumble.

US President Barack Obama has recently suggested that Europe must take on more debt to stimulate the economy. Such reliance on cheap money, though, is what got us into the current crisis in the first place -- both in Europe and in the US. America's problem isn't too little money. It's a lack of competitive products. 

Spiegel Editorial Slams Obama For Telling Europeans ‘To Emulate His Failed Strategy

US President Barack Obama currently seems to be portraying a modern version of Kleist's village judge. He is increasingly vocal in his criticism of Europeans for supposedly having exacerbated the ongoing economic crisis with their caution. His audience, however, seems to sense that the plight Obama is lamenting originated in his own country.

It stems from a doctrine that has dominated economic thought for the last two decades and consists of two elements: turbo-capitalism, whose only tenet is that any regulation of financial markets inhibits growth, and its more accommodating but no less dangerous brother, turbo-Keynesianism.

This mus definately be a sledge hammer for Obama who likes to portray himself as the saviour without faith.

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USairport security is second to none. Iris scans, detectors of various kinds, pat-down inspections, screenings, biometrics and finger-print check-ins are increasingly current in US international airports. If you or your baggage have been in the vicinity of explosives or you are concealing a weapon, one or a combination of these security measures will be your undoing. Or one of the army of gruff, armed US visa officers or their CCTV colleagues will likely spot you and suspect you and you’ll be escorted into a side room full of even gruffer, armed colleagues where you’ll be forced to undergo further searches and tests and get a severe grilling by questioners before ever being allowed out of the arrival hall into America real. Even the dogs you find at US airports seem to be kept on their toes and appear to be on the permanent look-out for terrorists - scampering around as though the food they are given is drenched in Red Bull and their next dinner depends on their present alertness.

It always amazes me how particularly US politicians forget when they want to. Recently I was furnished with the following list of quotations which are eye-opening to say the least as we Stateside approach a new election and some stark choices, notably in terms of national security.

Politicians will always be opportunists. Do Americans really want to play roulette with national security? Windsock politicians do not make for good long-term strategists - the kind of long-term strategy the US and the world is begging for in the security sphere.

With President Bush-bashing still a national pastime, it's notable how much international terrorism has been forgotten, and how little credit the president has received for keeping Americans safe.

This is a difficult issue for me. I didn't vote for President Bush – twice. And as a human-rights law professor, the events at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, along with various elements of the Patriot Act and the National Security Agency's wiretapping of Americans, are all greatly troubling to me.

Yet I live in Manhattan and I was present on Sept. 11, 2001 – admittedly 100 blocks from the murder scene, but I was here, trembling along with the rest of America. Remember those days?

Reagan owns a Heckler