Learn Italian, Become The Next Pope

Need another reason to learn Italian? According to The Boston Globe, speaking Italian may be key for the next pope. The article notes that: "John Paul II, a native Pole who made note of his poor Italian when he was selected for the papacy, became a master of multilingual communication. His language skills set a high standard for his successor."

Considering that Italian is the official language of the Vatican, and, since John Paul's death, cardinals from around the world have been attending daily gatherings conducted in Italian, studying Italian verb conjugations and learning how to pronounce Italian words might be the deciding factor in electing a new pope.

According to Vittorio Messori, an Italian writer who collaborated on John Paul's 1994 book "Crossing the Threshold of Hope," "Those who don't speak Italian are out. It's like wanting to be the secretary general of U.N. and not speaking English."