Italian Pope not excluded if conclave wants change

Polish Cardinal Karol Wojtyla broke Italy's 455-year monopoly on the papacy when he won election in 1978. As Pope John Paul, he may also have set the scene for another Italian Pontiff now.

In his 26 years, John Paul travelled the world and defied custom as no earlier Pope had ever done. But he also overlooked the job Italians are said to be best qualified for - managing the Vatican bureaucracy.

If the 115 cardinals voting for the next Pontiff this week decide they need to have better governance at the top, the natural reaction would be to look for an Italian to do it.

Even a Pole, Warsaw Cardinal Jozef Glemp, dropped the normal reserve about speculating to say he'd welcome an Italian Pope.

"I'm very favourable to this because I know that among the Italian cardinals there are really some very capable men who know what they are doing," he said last month before his compatriot died on April 2.

"Reforming the Curia is on the agenda for the next Pope and the traditional argument is that an Italian can do this better than a foreigner," said a European Church official who requested anonymity.

Milan Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi seems to be the man best placed to fit this bill, although Italian media have mentioned at least half a dozen other local favourites.

The Catholic Church is not called "Roman" for nothing. Its headquarters is a city-state inside Rome, its bureaucracy is heavily Italian and its work is conducted in that language. The Pope is also the bishop of Rome.

Beyond that, Italian and Catholic culture are so intertwined that local Church leaders seem to have inherited the knack for negotiation and compromise shown by prominent politicians here.

"I'd like to see another Italian as Pope," said an American Jesuit who asked not to be named. "They're the most pragmatic people God has ever allowed to grow into adulthood. They would never be as rigid as John Paul was."

Another non-European priest, a veteran of years in the Curia, echoed that view: "The Italians know how to finesse things - that's what you need in a Church as big as this."

By contrast, German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the early front-runner among Papal candidates, has insisted on clear rules. He disciplined dissidents in his 23 years as John Paul's strict doctrinal watchdog.

He and other conservative Curia officials grew in power over the years as John Paul left them to manage the Vatican while he preached the Gospel around the world.

Former Vatican diplomat John-Peter Pham said a powerful Curia often leads to stagnation, as was seen in the final years before Pius XII's death in 1958 that made the Church ready for the reforms of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965).

"So paradoxically, John Paul's long papacy could actually undermine his legacy, if it means that cardinals now want a change," said Mr Pham, author of Heirs of the Fisherman.

A popular argument against another Italian Pope says the papacy is open to the whole world - especially the Global South where 70 per cent of all Catholics now live - after the Polish pontiff broke the Italian monopoly that dated back to 1523.

But not even all Catholics from the developing world believe that is the best way for the Church to go.

"Even Third World cardinals are reassured at having a European in charge. The Church is European," argued an Asian priest working in the Curia. "If you pick a European, he stands for all Europeans and also the Americans and Australians.

"Look at the religious orders. Many of them have a majority of Third World members but they prefer having a European at the top," he said. "A European is probably more effective."