Italians Open On Papal Successor
Pope John Paul II was the first non-Italian pope in 455 years, and many analysts say the Italians are desperate to reclaim the papacy. But ordinary Italians on the streets say the new pope need not be one of them.
On Monday, 115 cardinals will sequester themselves inside the Sistine Chapel to choose a new leader for the Roman Catholic Church. Italy has the biggest national group, but the bloc of 20 cardinals is not big enough for them to pick a pope on their own.
"He doesn't need to be Italian. He can be from China. He can be from Japan,'' said Marisa Devito, a 53-year-old waitress at a restaurant near St. Peter's Square. "The important thing is that he be a good pope.''
John Paul's election in 1978 broke the centuries-long tradition of naming Italians to the post. Vatican observers have said many Italians expect to get the papacy back this time, but that does not bear out on the streets.
"For us, the best would be a Latin American pope,'' said Annelo Francesco, 64, wiping a glass on his newsstand near St. Peter's Square. "There would be more business, because more people would come from Latin America.''
Latin America has 20 voting cardinals - and nearly half the church's followers. Some analysts believe that to recognize the importance of its Latin American flock, the church will need to name the first pope from the other side of the Atlantic.
"`I'd like him to be Italian because I'm Italian, but in the end it wouldn't make a difference,'' said Roberto Brunetti, 34. "There's no difference: Latin, African."
Cardinal Francis Arinze, of Nigeria, is seen as a contender.
Paramedic Ugo Ruggeri, leaning against an ambulance at St. Peter's Square in a fluorescent yellow uniform, said he talks about the papal election with his colleagues at work and with his friends at the bar, and he has not heard from anyone fixed on the idea of a pope from their own country.
"The important thing is the ideas, so why not a Latin American or a Nigerian?'' he asked. "We never talk about how he needs to be Italian."
"This desire for an Italian, it's just nationalism," added Pascuale Forgione, a 70-year-old retired economist entering a church nearby. "The pope is above all that."