ROMAN Catholic cardinals prayed on Tuesday for divine help in choosing a new pope, hours before they go into a conclave to elect a pontiff who will face one of the most difficult periods in the Roman Catholic Church’s history.
The red-hatted cardinals filed into St Peter’s Basilica as choirs sang at a solemn Mass that traditionally precedes the secret conclave, which could last for several days.
Italian Angelo Sodano, dean of the cardinals, called for unity in the church, which has been riven with intrigue and scandal, and urged everyone to work with the next pope.
“My brothers, let us pray that the Lord will grant us a pontiff who will embrace this noble mission with a generous heart,” Sodano said in his homily, receiving warm applause when he thanked “the beloved and venerable” Benedict XVI.
Pope Benedict abdicated last month, saying he was not strong enough at 85 to confront the woes of a church whose 1.2 billion members look to Rome for leadership. He has secluded himself from public life and was not present at Tuesday’s service.
The Mass was the last event for the cardinals before they enter the Sistine Chapel and start their balloting for the next pontiff underneath the gaze of the divine presence represented through Michelangelo’s famous fresco of the Last Judgment.
Only the 115 “princes of the church” who are aged under 80 will take part in the vote, which is steeped in ritual. A two-thirds majority is needed to elect the new pope.
No clear favourite has emerged to take the helm of the church, with some prelates calling for a strong manager to control the much criticised Vatican bureaucracy, while others want a powerful pastor to combat growing secularism.
Italy’s Angelo Scola and Brazil’s Odilo Scherer are spoken of as possible frontrunners. The former would return the papacy to Italy after 35 years in the hands of Poland’s John Paul II and the German Benedict; the latter would be the first non-European pope since Syrian-born Gregory III in the 8th century.
However, a host of other candidates from numerous nations have also been mentioned as “papabili” — potential popes — including US cardinals Timothy Dolan and Sean O’Malley, Canada’s Marc Ouellet and Argentina’s Leonardo Sandri.
The cardinals will only emerge from their seclusion once they have chosen the 266th pontiff in the 2,000-year history of the church, which is beset by sex abuse scandals, bureaucratic infighting, financial difficulties and the rise of secularism.
Many Catholics are looking to see positive changes.
“He must be a great pastor with a big heart, and also have the capacity to confront the church’s problems, which are very great,” said Maria Dasdores Paz, a Brazilian nun who attended the Mass in Rome. “Every day there seem to be more.”
In the past month, Britain’s only cardinal elector excused himself from the conclave and apologised for sexual misconduct.
Mexican cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera told Italy’s La Stampa newspaper there were differing views about who should be the next pontiff, with some wanting an academic, others seeking someone close to the people, and others a good manager.
Asked if the conclave could therefore drag on, he said: “I do not think it will be long … we will come to an agreement very quickly”.
The average length of the last nine conclaves was just over three days and none went on for more than five.
Signalling the divisions among Catholic ranks, Italian newspapers reported on Tuesday an open clash between prelates in a pre-conclave meeting on Monday.
The newspapers said the Vatican hierarchy’s number two under Benedict, Tarcisio Bertone, had accused Brazil’s Joao Braz de Aviz of leaking critical comments to the media.
Aviz retorted to loud applause that the leaks were coming from the Curia — the Vatican’s central administration which has been criticised for failing to prevent a string of mishaps during Benedict’s troubled, eight-year reign. Agencies
