Secretive cardinals hint at ideas on new Pope

VATICAN CITY - They are sworn to secrecy - but Roman Catholic cardinals are already voicing thoughts on what kind of a man should succeed Pope John Paul as they converge on the Vatican for a conclave to elect the new pontiff.

The 117 "princes of the Church" - 65 of whom met in the Vatican on Monday to arrange John Paul's funeral - must pledge not to reveal their deliberations, so none of them has publicly mentioned any names of favorites.

But two days after the Polish Pope died and two weeks or so before the conclave is expected to start, cautious comments from some cardinals have given clues to their thinking.

Some have hinted that they would welcome a pontiff from the developing world; others have said the next leader of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics should be a doctrinal conservative like John Paul.

"Every pope must be a conservative. Saint Paul told his disciples 'conserve intact the deposit of faith'. A conservative is one who conserves. A pope cannot be liberal in Church doctrine," said Cardinal Jorge Medina of Chile.

John Paul ruled out the ordination of women priests and upheld strict Church doctrines against homosexuality, abortion and contraception - drawing criticism from liberal Catholics and some human rights groups.

He appointed all but two of the cardinals who will choose his successor, making it likely they will pick someone who will follow in his footsteps.

"I haven't any particular people in mind, but I do want for the Church someone who will carry out the direction set by John Paul II," said Cardinal Tom Williams of New Zealand in a comment echoed by several others.

THIRD WORLD POPE?

Some suggested they would like to see someone from the developing world become the new leader of the Church. Almost half of Roman Catholics live in Latin America, while Africa is the religion's fastest-growing region.

"I do believe there will be a big opening up (toward the developing world) ... No one believed 26 years ago we would have a Polish pope and God gave him to the Church," said Chilean Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz.

"What comes now? The day will come for a Latin American or African pope. When? It's impossible to say," he added.

Cardinal Bernard Panafieu of France said the Church should respond to modern challenges "not simply in Western Europe but also these huge continents that we often don't know very well, or where there are very lively Christian communities.

"I am thinking of India, and even China, without even mentioning Latin America obviously," he said.

Cardinal Claudio Hummes of Brazil said the new pope should be someone who can show he and the Church are at the service of the poorest and most excluded people, but could also face other 21st century challenges.

"He should continue the dialogues -- with the sciences, religions, society, with biotechnology, biology, bioethics. All those areas are developing quickly and there are many things that need to be discussed," Hummes said.

- REUTERS