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Ghana's hope for pope dashed, but Catholics keep faith

March 14, 2013 10:30
Ghanaians' hopes that one of their own would become the first black pope have gone up in white smoke, but Roman Catholics kept the faith on Thursday and wished the best for the new man at the head of the Vatican. Wednesday's vote making Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina the first pope from Latin America came after speculation over whether a Ghanaian would be chosen. Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson, the 64-year-old head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, was considered a favourite from a continent with a rapidly growing Catholic population.

Italian Scola leads odds to become next pope

March 12, 2013 09:45
Italian archbishop Angelo Scola is favourite to be the next pope ahead of Ghana's Peter Turkson and Odilo Scherer of Brazil, bookmakers said Tuesday as cardinals prepared to choose the new pontiff. Bookmakers were also taking bets on the official name that the successor to Benedict XVI will take, with Leo, Peter and Gregory the favourites. Irish bookmaker Paddy Power and Britain's William Hill said Scola's chances had improved dramatically and both gave the Milan archbishop odds of 9/4 to be the next pope.

Adopt a cardinal or place your bets for papal conclave

March 9, 2013 05:45
As the Catholic Church prepares to elect a pope, some irreverent souls are betting on the outcome while more religious-minded ones are "adopting" individual cardinals on a website to pray that they make the right choice. Italian cardinal Angelo Scola is by far the favourite with the odds running at just 11-to-four for bookmaker William Hill or three-to-one for Paddy Power, meaning that a safe bet on the 61-year-old would not bring in much cash.

Ghana's Turkson: peacemaker marred by controversial video

March 7, 2013 04:30
Ghana's Peter Turkson, one of Africa's two candidates considered eligible to become the next pope, has earned respect as a peacemaker at home, but faced criticism abroad over a controversial video. The 64-year-old cardinal and head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace is considered progressive by some supporters, and his mediation during a tight Ghanaian election in 2008 won him high praise. But his image was marred last year after he showed an alarmist video on Muslim immigration in Europe at a synod. He later apologised.

Sex abuse victims list 'dirty dozen' papal candidates

March 6, 2013 18:16
Clergy sex abuse victims listed a "dirty dozen" potential papal candidates Wednesday and urged the Roman Catholic Church to "get serious" about protecting children, helping victims and exposing corruption. "We want to urge Catholic prelates to stop pretending that the worst is over regarding the clergy sex abuse and cover up crisis," said David Clohessy, director of the US-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP.

Me? Never! No avowed candidates in papal election

March 6, 2013 07:00
It's an election but there are no campaign posters, no official candidates and even the people who might get voted in to the Vatican's top job protest they absolutely do not want it. Ask one of the scores of cardinals who have flocked to Rome to elect one of their own as leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics if they think they are in the running and the response is usually a hearty laugh or a show of modesty.

'Vatileaks' concern as pre-conclave talks begin

March 4, 2013 12:00
Catholic cardinals on Monday pressed for more information about the "Vatileaks" scandal as a series of Vatican meetings got under way to prepare for a conclave to elect a new pope after Benedict XVI's sudden resignation. "If we're going to make a good decision, I'm sure we'll have to have some information on that," South African cardinal Wilfrid Napier told reporters on the sidelines of the closed-door meetings.

Fake papal election posters go up for Ghanaian cardinal

March 1, 2013 18:31
Fake election posters encouraging cardinals to vote for Ghanaian prelate Peter Turkson to be the next pope went up around central Rome on Friday in a provocation by an anonymous group of artists. "At The Conclave Vote Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson" said the posters with a large picture of the African cardinal in his scarlet beretta looking up at the sky. The poster also showed an episcopal symbol crossed out to indicate who to vote for -- an imitation of Italian parliamentary candidates' posters that were posted up all around ahead of a general election earlier this week.

Cardinals start to winnow down papal candidates lists

March 1, 2013 13:00
* Many cardinals have general idea of preferred men * Cardinal says journalists' lists better than in 2005 * About a dozen names most frequently mentioned for pope By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor VATICAN CITY, March 1 (Reuters) - Narrowing down lists of about a dozen potential popes to a handful of serious hopefuls will be one of the main tasks of the closed-door meetings that Catholic cardinals begin on Monday.

Posters promoting African pope appear in Rome

March 1, 2013 12:15
ROME, March 1 (Reuters) - Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana is not "running" for pope but he clearly has supporters who think enough of him that they have plastered posters with his picture around Rome. "Vote Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson at the conclave!," was written in bold on posters above a photograph of the cardinal, a favourite among bookmakers to succeed Benedict, who on Thursday became the first pope in six centuries to resign.
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