On the eve of the vote, cardinals offered wildly different assessments of what they were looking for in the next pontiff and how close they were to a decision.
It was evidence that Benedict XVI's surprise resignation has continued to destabilise the church leadership and that his final appeal for unity may go unheeded, at least in the early rounds of voting.
Cardinals held their final closed-door debate yesterday over whether the church needs a manager to clean up the Vatican's bureaucratic mess or a pastor to inspire the 1.2 billion faithful in times of crisis.
The fact that not everyone got a chance to speak was a clear sign that there was still unfinished business on the eve of the conclave.
"This time around, there are many different candidates, so it's normal that it's going to take longer than the last time," Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz of Chile said.
"There are no groups, no compromises, no alliances, just each one with his conscience voting for the person he thinks is best, which is why I don't think it will be over quickly."
None of that has prevented a storm of chatter over who is ahead.
The buzz in the papal stakes swirled around Cardinal Angelo Scola, an Italian seen as favoured by cardinals hoping to shake up the powerful Vatican bureaucracy, and Brazilian cardinal Odilo Scherer, a favourite of Vatican-based insiders intent on preserving the status quo.
Cardinal Scola is affable and Italian, but not from the Italian-centric Vatican bureaucracy called the Curia. That gives him clout with those seeking to reform the nerve centre of the church that has been discredited by revelations of leaks and complaints from cardinals in the field that Rome is inefficient and unresponsive to their needs.
Cardinal
Scherer seems to be favoured by Latin Americans and the Curia. He has a
solid handle on the Vatican's finances, sitting on the governing
commission of the Vatican bank, as well as the Holy See's main budget
committee.
As a non-Italian, the archbishop of Sao Paulo
would be expected to name an Italian as secretary of state - the Vatican
number two who runs day-to-day affairs - another plus for Vatican-based
cardinals who would want one of their own running the shop.
The
pastoral camp seems to be focusing on two Americans, New York
archbishop Timothy Dolan and Boston archbishop Sean O'Malley. Neither
has Vatican experience.
Canadian cardinal Marc Ouellet is
well-respected, stemming from his job at the important Vatican office
that vets bishop appointments.
If the leading names fail
to reach the 77 votes required for victory in the first few rounds of
balloting, any number of surprise candidates could come to the fore as
alternatives.
It all starts with the cardinals checking into the Santa Marta residence on the edge of the Vatican gardens.
At
10am local time the dean of the College of Cardinals, Angelo Sodano,
led the celebration of the "Pro eligendo Pontificie" Mass - the Mass for
the election of a pope - inside St Peter's Basilica, joined by the 115
cardinals who will vote.
This is followed with a
procession into the Sistine Chapel, with the cardinals intoning the
Litany of Saints, the hypnotic Gregorian chant imploring the saints to
help guide their voting. After another chant calling on the Holy Spirit
to intervene, the cardinals take the oath of secrecy, followed by a
meditation delivered by elderly Maltese cardinal Prosper Grech.
Then
the master of papal liturgical ceremonies gives the order "Extra omnes"
- "Everyone out" - and all but those taking part in the conclave leave
the chapel's frescoed walls.
During the voting that
ensues, each cardinal writes his choice on a rectangular piece of paper
inscribed with the words "Eligo in summen pontificem" - Latin for "I
elect as Supreme Pontiff".
Holding the folded ballot up
in the air, each approaches the altar and places it on a saucer, before
tipping it into an oval urn, as he intones these words: "I call as my
witness, Christ the Lord, who will be my judge that my vote is given to
the one who, before God, I think should be elected."
After
the votes are counted, and the outcomes announced, the papers are bound
together with a needle and thread, each ballot pierced through the word
"Eligo". The ballots are then placed in a cast-iron stove and burned
with a special chemical.
That is when all eyes will turn
to the 6ft copper chimney atop the Sistine Chapel to pipe out puffs of
smoke to tell the world if there is a new pope.
Black smoke means "not yet" - the likely outcome after round one. White smoke means the 266th pope has been chosen.
The
first puffs of smoke should emerge some time around 8pm. If they are
black, voting will continue, four rounds each day, until a pope is
elected.
The next pope will face a church in crisis:
Benedict spent his eight-year pontificate trying to revive Catholicism
amid the secular trends that have made it almost irrelevant in places
like Europe, once a stronghold of Christianity.
Clerical
sex abuse scandals have soured many faithful and competition from rival
evangelical churches in Latin America and Africa has drawn souls away.
Closer
to home, leaks of papal documents last year exposed ugly turf battles,
allegations of corruption and even a plot purportedly orchestrated by
Benedict's aides to out a prominent Italian Catholic editor as gay.
In the papal conclave that begins today, 115 cardinals will elect the next pope
All
of them were created either by Benedict XVI or Pope John Paul II,
ensuring that whoever is chosen will follow in their conservative line.
Here is their geographic distribution:
EUROPE: 60 electors, or more than half the bloc. Italy alone claims 28, followed by Germany with six.
NORTH AMERICA: 14 electors, with 11 from the United States and three from Canada.
LATIN AMERICA: 19 electors. Brazil has the most with five.
AFRICA: 11 electors, with Nigeria counting two.
ASIA: 10 electors, with India counting five.
OCEANIA: One elector: Sydney Cardinal George Pell.