Cardinal seeks to quell curiosity about new Pope

A senior Roman Catholic Cardinal tried yesterday to quell mounting speculation about who will succeed Pope John Paul, urging people to contain their curiosity and let God do his work.

With eight days to go before Cardinals enter a conclave to choose a successor, top churchmen are battling to limit media musings about the possible identity of the next Pope for fear that this might influence the secretive election process.

On Saturday, the red-clad prelates took a vow of media silence, refusing to talk to reporters until after the conclave, and yesterday, Rome's Cardinal Camillo Ruini told worshippers in St Peter's Basilica that the outside world had to be patient.

"Let's not be uselessly and all too humanly curious to know who he is, ahead of time," he said in a homily at the second of nine daily Masses of mourning for Pope John Paul II.

"Instead we must be ready to welcome in our prayers, our trust and our love he who the Lord wishes to give us," Cardinal Ruini, who was John Paul's vicar of Rome, told the packed basilica.

Cardinals start their conclave in the frescoed Sistine Chapel on April 18 and will vote twice a day thereafter until one candidate has reached a majority of two thirds plus one.

In comments from cardinals ahead of the media blackout, it was clear that they had differing views on the priorities facing the Church and that there was no obvious front runner.

"As far as I can see, there are no clear favourites and probably no firmly fixed alliances," German Cardinal Karl Lehmann told the Allgemeine Zeitung Mainz newspaper in an interview published on Saturday.

Father Thomas Reese, editor of the United States Jesuit weekly America and a prominent commentator on religious issues, blasted the cardinals for putting a lid on public comments.

"The College of Cardinals is like the owner of a restaurant who wants to serve his customers a beautiful and delicious meal but he does not want them sticking their noses in the kitchen lest they lose their appetites," he said in a statement in Rome.

"After the conclave, they want to present a new Pope to the world. They will stand united behind this man, and they do not want people to know about the arguments, divisions and politicking that went on before he was selected."

Fr Reese said the media blackout would hit American cardinals most because they were giving regular briefings.

"The Italian and other cardinals will continue to speak on background to favourite reporters," he said.

Between now and April 18, cardinals will meet daily to discuss the state of the Church needs and form an idea of the sort of man who should now take charge.

Emotions for John Paul are still running high, with thousands of people spilling out into St Peter's Square to hear Cardinal Ruini's homily, ignoring the lashing rain and cold weather.

The Pope was buried in a crypt under St Peter's on Friday after one of the biggest funerals in history and remembered in special mourning services around Rome yesterday.

The crypt is still closed to the public, but the Vatican released a photograph at the weekend showing his simple, white marble gravestone, engraved with his Latin name "IOANNES PAULUS PPII", and the dates of his 26-year papacy.