Five cardinals from India to take part in election of next Pope, : Pope Benedict exit stuns catholic community in Hyderabad

U Sudhakar Reddy
Five cardinals from India will be taking part in  electing the next 
Pope, head of the Roman Catholic Church. One of  them is Cardinal Ivan Dias Archbishop 
Emeritus of Mumbai who was in  the running for the top job after Pope John 
Paul died.He is now not a front runner to succeed Pope Benedict, who, most  unusually resigned on 
Monday, but church sources say that if a  cardinal from Asia is considered for the   
papacy, and depending on  his health, Cardinal Dias could still be a possible candidate.Cardinal Dias is Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the  Evangelisation of Peoples.
Of the 120 cardinals from across the world who will vote for the  next Pope, there are 
five from India: Cardinal Dias; Cardinal  Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal, 53, Major 
Archbishop of  Thiruvananthapuram of the Syro-Malankars; Cardinal George  Alencherry, 
67,  Major Archbishop of Ernakulam, Angamaly of the  Syro-Malabars; Cardinal Oswald 
Gracias, 68, Metropolitan Archbishop  of Bombay and Cardinal Telesphore Placidus Toppo, 
73, Metropolitan  Archbishop of Ranchi.

India has two other Cardinals who will not be voting because they  have crossed the age 
limit of 80 years: Cardinal Simon Ignatius  Pimenta, 92, Metropolitan Archbishop 
Emeritus of Bombay; and  Cardinal Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy, 89, Metropolitan 
Archbishop  Emeritus of Bengaluru.Under the system followed in the church for selecting the Pope, all  those in the 
electoral college are candidates and voters at the same  time.Vicar-General of the Hyderabad Archdiocese, Monsignor Swarna  Bernard, told this 
newspaper: "Though we are stunned at the  resignation of Pope Benedict, we hope this 
move will help the  Catholic Church."On Cardinal Dias's candidature, Father Swarna Bernard said, "Ivan  Dias is an honest and 
sincere cardinal. He was born in 1936. He is  very able and traditional. If an Asian, 
that too an Indian, is  considered for the papacy, it will be a matter of great pride 
for  the Catholic Church. He is close to Pope Benedict."The Cardinals will begin the process in Rome in March to elect the new  Pope. The conclave 
may take days or weeks and there will be several  rounds of voting, said a church source."If black smoke appears, it means that they haven't elected anyone  yet. If white smoke 
appears, the Pope is elected. Then the  announcement "Habemus Papam (We have a Pope) is 
made," said a church  official.The most viable candidates are considered to be Cardinal Timothy  Dolan from New York, 
Cardinal Peter Appiah Turkson from Ghana,  Cardinal Marc Ouellet from Canada, Cardinal 
Joao Braz de Aviz Odilo  Pedro Scherer from Brazil, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi and 
Cardinal  Angelo Scola of Italy, Leonardo Sandri of Argentina, Christoph  Schoenborn of 
Austria and Luis Tagle of the Philippines."Cardinal Turkson from Ghana has a fair chance if they choose to  elect an African. Luis 
Tagle of the Philippines is an Asian.  Cardinal Ivan Dias's name is not making the 
rounds now like it did  after John Paul," said a Church source.