A respected cardinal from Africa could become the first black pope.
Two cardinals who experts say are in serious contention for the papacy are the socially conscious Peter Cardinal Turkson, 64, of Ghana and former tribal member and convert Francis Cardinal Arinze, 80, of Nigeria.
The men emerged yesterday as front-runners to replace retiring Pope Benedict XVI along with cardinals from South America and Canada.
British bookmakers were clearly siding with the Africans.
Turkson, the 64-year-old head of the Vatican justice and peace bureau, is a 3-1 favorite, according to bookmaker William Hill.
Arinze, 80, of Nigeria is 4-1 — even despite his advanced age.
Canada’s Marc Cardinal Ouellet, 68, who is the de facto staff director of the Vatican, is a 7-2 contender.
Ouellet, a native of Quebec, is regarded as close to Benedict, but has also said that becoming pope “would be a nightmare.”
If the coming conclave decides to turn to the Third World, the leading candidates from South America appear to be Brazil’s Odilo Cardinal Scherer, 63, and Argentina’s Leonardo Cardinal Sandri, 69, currently head of the Vatican’s department for Eastern Churches.
Scherer is the archbishop of Sao Paolo, the largest archdiocese in the world’s largest Catholic country. Sandri, born in Buenos Aires of Italian parents, held the third-highest Vatican post as its chief of staff between 2000 and 2007.
From Europe, the leading contender is Milan Archbishop Angelo Cardinal Scola, 71, who some observers believe is Benedict’s choice.
His closest Italian rival is Gianfranco Ravasi, 70, who runs the pope’s Twitter account.
The youngest front-runner is Luis Tagle, 55, archbishop of Manila, the Philippines, who is known for his Pope John Paul II-like charisma.
The candidates come from a variety of viewpoints. For example, Scola is a staunch conservative who is an outspoken critic of civil unions.
On the other hand, Turkson, who supports the all-male clergy, was the first Vatican official to appoint a lay woman to a senior position.