Catholics wait with bated breath

Catholics around Wanganui are waiting to hear the result of the conclave to choose the new Pope which began in the Vatican City yesterday.

Father Brian Carmine of St Mary's said the outgoing Pope Benedict XVI was a great spiritual leader for his church.

``He was careful, gentle, theological, and I think he surprised a lot of people with how impartial he was.''

That impartiality was something the cardinals in the conclave should look for as well as the ability to welcome newcomers to the faith, Fr Carmine said.

``He should be someone who is looking to consolidate what has been done before but also move on to new evangelisation, move on to people who may not call themselves Catholics but also to others in the world who may not share our faith.''

He said he would follow the events of the conclave on TV and on the internet, and that the church would celebrate the new pontiff when he was selected.

``We'll try to get as many people together in one of the churches as we can and celebrate his selection, and we'll probably have a bit of a party, too.''

Father Des Levins, of the Holy Family Parish on Tawhero St, said the new Pope could be a traditionalist or a more progressive person and that a knowledge of the church's long history would be key.

``What you'll probably find is there are many Catholics who don't know the history of the church, and if they knew it better then they'd see a lot of things happening today have happened before. I feel we have a lot of traditionalists who consider they are true Roman Catholics, but there's also this group who really want the church to progress.

``But the key thing is that our faith and belief will never change,'' Fr Levins said.

He said he had had a dish installed on his roof which gave his TV extra Christian channels, something which would be heavily used during the conclave.

``Unless something really bad happens, then I'll be spending all my time watching it.''