The Hindu : International : Papal election process begins in Sistine Chapel

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Apr 19, 2005

International

International

Papal election process begins in Sistine Chapel

Vaiju Naravane

Fervent prayers offered for fruitful outcome

VATICAN CITY: The conclave of Cardinals to elect a new Pope got under way in the Sistine Chapel here on Monday amid fervent prayers. Intense speculation as to who was in the lead was also rife as bookmakers notched up odds on possible candidates.

Thousands of pilgrims flocked to Saint Peter's Square to attend Mass and pray, calling upon the Holy Spirit to inspire the voting Cardinals and guide them in their choice of the next spiritual head of the Roman Catholic Church.

Mario Fratelli, a 42-year-old bank officer came here to pray with his wife Francesca and their four children. "We took a day off work today. We are a devout family and this is of utmost importance to us. I firmly believe that the papacy should return to Italy, especially as there are at least two excellent "papabiles" in Cardinals Martini and Tettamanzi. We are devout but we are not rigid and I feel Cardinal Ratzinger would not be acceptable to many people whose views are not as rigid as his," Mr. Mario said. Others in the crowds were praying for their own "favourites" although almost everyone said they would have no problem accepting whoever was named as their spiritual father. "I come from Argentina and I would like to see a Latin American elected Pope, of course," said Rosanna, a 63-year-old grandmother on a visit to her daughter in Rome.

Speculation on candidate

"We should not be afraid of moving out of Italy. The last Pope was Polish and he was a saint. So why this insistence on returning to Italy? The Church belongs to everyone, after all," she said.

There are 20 Cardinal-electors each from Italy and Latin America. The favourite names from Latin America include Brazil's Claudio Hummes, Archbishop of Sao Paulo, and Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga, the Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, as well as Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina and Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos of Colombia. The Italian favourites include Dionigi Tettamanzi, the Archbishop of Milan, and his immediate predecessor in that post, Carlo Maria Martini.

For the moment, the conclave is being described as a tussle between the progressives and the conservatives with the Italians and Latinos leading the liberals and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Dean of the College of Cardinals, leading the conservatives.

At a special mass celebrated this morning, Cardinal Ratzinger gave a homily that many likened to a conservative manifesto. Condemning "the dictatorship of relativism" at the mass in Saint Peter's Basilica to pray for guidance in electing a successor to John Paul II, the Cardinal said popular trends were nothing compared with deep-rooted faith.

From Africa, Cardinal Francis Arinze appears best placed, with some bookmakers making him the favourite at odds of three to one, although habitual commentators on the Church have ruled out this possibility as being "too remote". Among Asia's 10 Cardinals, India's Ivan Dias, Archbishop of Mumbai, is talked about as the "most possible compromise candidate".

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