Cardinals To Begin Papal Election

The Roman Catholic College of Cardinals begins Monday its most solemn duty: electing a successor to the late Pope John Paul II.

"The new pope has already been chosen by the Lord. We just have to pray to understand who he is," Florence Cardinal Ennio Antonelli told the congregation at St. Andrea delle Fratte, his titular church a short stroll from Rome's famous Spanish Steps.

Whoever the next pope is, a found that a majority of American Catholics believe he should admit women into the priesthood (60 percent), allow priests to marry (65 percent) and end the ban on artificial birth control (69 percent).

Despite the respect and admiration they had for John Paul II, 52 percent of U.S. Catholics polled said they think the church is out of touch.

The disconnect between the Vatican and Catholics in America goes beyond that. Most Catholics said they follow their own moral conscience, not the pope's teachings, and they believe they can disagree with the pope on issues like birth control, abortion and divorce and still be good members of the church.

The conclave starts Monday after 115 red-robed cardinals join a formal procession into the Sistine Chapel, where efforts to maintain the secrecy of deliberations have included installing jamming devices to foil sophisticated eavesdropping equipment.

But the cardinals' arrival at the $20 million Domus Sanctae Marthae took them into the imposed isolation of the papal election — which has not lasted longer than five days in the past century, but remains an open-ended process. The last conclave in 1978 took eight ballots over three days to choose Pope John Paul II.

There should be much to ponder following the third-longest papacy in history.

This conclave feels the full weight of the church's modern pressures, including outreach to Islam, the fallout from priest sex scandals, the roles of women and how to reconcile Vatican teachings that ban condom use with worries about the spread of AIDS. They also must seek a global pastor with enough charisma to flourish in an image-driven age.

For the first time, credible papal successors come from at least three distinct regions: Europe, Africa and Latin America.

One by one in cars driven by aides through a steady rain, the cardinals arrived Sunday at the gates of Vatican City. They were saluted by a single Swiss Guard, wearing dark foul-weather cloaks over their traditional purple-gold-and red uniforms. The cars passed over the gray cobblestones to the hotel — which John Paul ordered built to end the spartan and makeshift quarters arranged for past conclaves.

The rules of the conclave were already in place: no phones, television, publications or outside contact. All staff — including cooks, maids, elevator operators and drivers who will shuttle them the few hundred yards from the hotel to the Sistine Chapel -- have taken vows of silence.

At the North American College seminary, some of the 11 U.S. cardinals joining the conclave posed for a group photograph before making the five-minute trip to the Vatican. Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles carried a set of red robes in a clear garment bag and a small overnight bag hung from one shoulder. They made no comments to reporters.

The Turin daily La Stampa said many cardinals, preparing for a stressful stretch ahead, had packed compact disc players and headphones in their bags along with prayer books and their red hats. Other prelates, it reported, brought along favorite snacks.

There was just one last chance for the public to view the cardinals before they begin their deliberations. Monday morning, a special Mass at St. Peter's Basilica is scheduled in the memory of John Paul, whose remains rest with many other popes in the tombs reached by stairs near the altar.

Later in the day, the cardinals will gather in the Apostolic Palace for a procession to the Sistine Chapel while chanting a hymn seeking inspiration from the Holy Spirit.

The cardinals then hear a prayer in Latin by the dean of the College of Cardinals, German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, to be guided "in our hearts in love and in patience." Ratzinger, 78, is considered a possible papal candidate.

Once inside the chapel, the prelates can decide to hold a single ballot. If not, they will begin voting on Tuesday morning with four ballots a day. Two-thirds — or at least 77 votes — are needed. Under updated rules set in 1996 by the late pontiff, it could shrink to a simple majority at some point in the second week.

Another new element comes with this conclave: Bells will ring after a new pope is chosen. In the past, the only sign was white smoke from the chapel chimney — a tradition that will continue.

Italians — who hold the largest national bloc, with 20 cardinals — apparently have struggled to reach a consensus on whether to back one of their own for the papacy, wrote Marco Politi, Vatican expert for of the Rome daily La Repubblica.

John Paul was the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. Several Italians have been mentioned as papal prospects, including Milan Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi.

Cardinals who are under 80 years old and allowed to take part in the conclave agreed not to give interviews during their daily meetings to prepare for the gathering. The source for La Repubblica's assessment was not mentioned.

Italian cardinal Salvatore Pappalardo, who at 86 is too old to vote, indicated in remarks on Italian state radio Sunday that he thought his younger peers would be looking for a candidate who would be in tune with global problems — particularly issues of justice, peace and even the environment.

"Providence sends a pope (to meet the needs) of every era," he said.