Cardinals meet for last time before voting to elect Pope

The conclave will begin on March 12 following Benedict XVI's historic resignation, which has attracted worldwide attention.

Cardinals held their final meeting on March 11 before being isolated from the outside world during the process of electing a new pope to lead the Roman Catholic Church through its current turmoil.

Cardinal Marc Ouellet preaches on Sunday, March 10 (Source: AFP)

The conclave will begin on March 12 following Benedict XVI's historic resignation, which has attracted worldwide attention, with 115 cardinals eligible to vote for his replacement.

Vatican experts say no candidate has emerged, but three names have been mentioned as frontrunners, including Odilo Scherer, the charismatic archbishop of Sao Paulo, Italian conservative Angelo Scola, head of the influential Milan diocese, and Marc Ouellet, a Canadian with a senior position in the Holy See.

“We are all waiting for the upcoming conclave, not only those who believe in the Church but the whole world,” Ouellet said in a sermon in Rome.

At 15:45 GMT on Tuesday (March 12), all the cardinals will recite the oath of secrecy and conduct the first round of voting to find a leader for the 1.2 billion Catholics. Their challenge is to find the 266th pope capable of leading the church through the challenges that are too much for the 85-year-old Benedict, who is no longer in good health.His resignation, the first in 700 years, means the church needs to find a leader who can overcome many challenges ahead, including the growing secularization of the West and the spread of radical Islam.

The cardinals also need to find someone dynamic enough to tackle scandals such as child sexual abuse by priests and reform the Curia, the central government of the Holy See. Ouellet has attracted much attention as the head of the influential Congregation of Priests. Scola, 71, has a tough stance and the advantage of being free from Vatican bureaucracy.

“I think he is a good choice, he will be a leader who will make the church stronger. I pray for him,” said parishioner Maria Bettini, 69, at a Mass presided over by Scola in Milan on Sunday.

African Catholics, whose numbers are growing in contrast to declining church attendance in Europe, long a Christian stronghold, are praying for the first black pope. “It is the inspiration of a whole people and a whole continent, a powerful signal,” Justin Golo, a Congolese priest, said at a Mass in Rome on Sunday.

Africa’s hopes rest on Laurent Monsengwo, Archbishop of Kinshasa, and Peter Turkson, a Ghanaian. However, the chances of a pope from the southern hemisphere are slim, as 60 cardinals with voting rights are from Europe and 14 from the Americas. The new pope needs a two-thirds majority, or 77 votes./.

According to Vietnamplus - DT