Papal Conclave Set To Begin

The cardinals have prayed at a morning mass, the final step before the Princes of the Church enter the Sistine Chapel to begin voting on a new Pope.

FOX News Radio’s Simon Owen reports from Rome:

The sense here is that this is about as close as a papal conclave can be. There’s no clear front-runner.

Although two names keep being mentioned: Italy’s Cardinal Angelo Scola, who would be tipped to shake up Vatican bureaucracy, and Brazil’s Cardinal Odilo Scherer who it’s thought would leave things largely as they are.

The Cardinals will head to the Sistine Chapel after morning mass, and then the Chapel’s chimney becomes the focus of attention: If they vote today, smoke should emerge at around lunchtime U.S. time. If the smoke is black, there’s no clear winner, and the conclave continues. White smoke means a Pope has been chosen.

At the Vatican, Simon Owen, FOX News Radio.