Election of new pope begins

Monday, 18 April 2005 12:00 AM

Cardinals of the Roman Catholic church will today meet in Rome to begin the process of choosing a new pope.

After holding a public mass in St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, the 115 princes of the church eligible to vote will retire to the Sistene Chapel to begin deliberations.

They will take a vow of secrecy and the entire building will be swept for any listening devices to ensure that no word of the decision-making process leaks out.

The cardinals are prohibited from using mobile phones, the internet or watching television until the end of the conclave discussions, which are likely to take a few days.

They will pray and take part in up to four secret ballots a day until a new pope is elected, with the first vote taking place either this afternoon or tomorrow morning.

It is only when smoke begins to appear from a specially installed chimney that the outside world will have any idea what is going inside the Sistene Chapel.

Black smoke, caused by the burning of the ballot papers, signals that a vote has ended in failure, while white smoke means a new pope has been elected.

German cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who has worked in the Vatican for 20 years, is currently the bookies' favourite to succeed Pope John Paul II.

But many experts believe the conservative 78-year-old will not be able to win the two-thirds majority he needs to become the next pontiff.

The former archbishop of Paris, cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, comes hot on his heels as second favourite, followed by Italian cardinals Carlo Maria and Dionigi Tettamanzi.

Many believe Nigeria's Francis Arinze could become the first African pope, while Claudio Hummes, from the world's most populous Catholic country, Brazil, is also in the running.

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