Red-hatted cardinals were expected to pick a date Monday for the conclave to elect a new leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, following the death of Pope Francis.
Dozens of so-called “Princes of the Church” from across the world have been gathering at the Vatican since the 88-year-old Argentine pontiff died on 21 April.
But so far there are few clues as to who they might choose next.
“I believe that if Francis has been the pope of surprises, this conclave will be too, as it is not at all predictable,” Spanish Cardinal Jose Cobo said in an interview published Sunday.
In previous conclaves, “you can see where things might go,” he told El Pais newspaper, whereas this time many cardinals hail from beyond Europe and have not even met each other before.
Francis was laid to rest Saturday with a funeral and burial ceremony that drew 400,000 people to St. Peter’s Square and beyond, including royalty, world leaders and ordinary pilgrims.
Vast crowds also gathered Sunday to view his marble tomb in the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome, after the “pope of the poor” opted to be buried outside the Vatican’s walls.
With conflicts and diplomatic crises raging around the world, Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who under Francis was secretary of state — the pope’s number two — is for many the favorite to succeed him.
British bookmakers William Hill put him slightly ahead of Filipino Luis Antonio Tagle, the Metropolitan Archbishop emeritus of Manila, followed by Ghana’s Cardinal Peter Turkson.
Next in their odds comes Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, then Guinea’s Cardinal Robert Sarah, and Matteo Zuppi, the Archbishop of Bologna.
Ricardo Cruz, 44, a data and artificial intelligence specialist who came to see Francis’s tomb on Sunday, said that as a Filipino he hoped the next pope would be from Asia, but as a Catholic he just hoped the cardinals would pick the “right pope.”
While Francis’ efforts to create a more compassionate Church earned him widespread affection and respect, some of his reforms angered the Church’s conservative wing, particularly in the United States and Africa.
Roberto Regoli, a professor of Church history and culture at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, told AFP the cardinals would be looking “to find someone who knows how to forge greater unity.”
“We are in a period in which Catholicism is experiencing various polarizations, so I don’t imagine it will be a very, very quick conclave,” he said.
The cardinals have held general meetings since Francis’ death to make decisions about the funeral and beyond.
At 9 a.m. (0700 GMT) on Monday, they will hold their fifth meeting, at which they are likely to fix a conclave date.
Experts have suggested it may take place on 5 or 6 May — shortly after the nine days of papal mourning, which ends on 4 May. With AFP