Brazilian cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer arrives for a meeting on the eve of the start of a conclave on March 11, 2013 at the Vatican. Cardinals will hold a final set of meetings on Monday before they are locked away to choose a new pope to lead the Roman Catholic Church through troubled times. AFP PHOTO / JOHANNES EISELE (JOHANNES EISELE)
Mexican cardinal Francisco Robles Ortega attends a mass at the St Peter's basilica before the conclave on March 12, 2013 at the Vatican. Cardinals moved into the Vatican today as the suspense mounted ahead of a secret papal election with no clear frontrunner to steer the Catholic world through troubled waters after Benedict XVI's historic resignation.The 115 cardinal electors who pick the next leader of 1.2 billion Catholics in a conclave in the Sistine Chapel will live inside the Vatican walls completely cut off from the outside world until they have made their choice. AFP PHOTO / GABRIEL BOUYS (GABRIEL BOUYS GABRIEL BOUYS)
Italian cardinal Angelo Scola arrives for a meeting on the eve of the start of a conclave on March 11, 2013 at the Vatican. Cardinals will hold a final set of meetings on Monday before they are locked away to choose a new pope to lead the Roman Catholic Church through troubled times. AFP PHOTO / JOHANNES EISELE (JOHANNES EISELE)
Hungarian Cardinal Peter Erdo arrives for a meeting of pre-conclave on March 9, 2013 at the Vatican. The conclave of 115 "cardinal electors" will begin on March 12 under Michelangelo's famous frescoes of the Sistine chapel to choose the 266th pope following the abrupt end to Benedict's eight-year papacy which was often overshadowed by scandals. AFP PHOTO / FILIPPO MONTEFORTE (FILIPPO MONTEFORTE)
Austrian cardinal Christoph Schonborn attends a mass at the St Peter's basilica before the conclave on March 12, 2013 at the Vatican. Cardinals moved into the Vatican today as the suspense mounted ahead of a secret papal election with no clear frontrunner to steer the Catholic world through troubled waters after Benedict XVI's historic resignation.The 115 cardinal electors who pick the next leader of 1.2 billion Catholics in a conclave in the Sistine Chapel will live inside the Vatican walls completely cut off from the outside world until they have made their choice. AFP PHOTO / GABRIEL BOUYS (GABRIEL BOUYS GABRIEL BOUYS)
Cardinals Luis Antonio Tagle, of the Philippines, left, and Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, of Nigeria, attend a Mass for the election of a new pope celebrated by Cardinal Angelo Sodano inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Tuesday, March 12, 2013. Cardinals enter the Sistine Chapel on Tuesday to elect the next pope amid more upheaval and uncertainty than the Catholic Church has seen in decades: There's no front-runner, no indication how long voting will last and no sense that a single man has what it takes to fix the many problems. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) (Andrew Medichini)
Canadian cardinal Marc Ouellet attends a mass at the St Peter's basilica before the conclave on March 12, 2013 at the Vatican. Cardinals moved into the Vatican today as the suspense mounted ahead of a secret papal election with no clear frontrunner to steer the Catholic world through troubled waters after Benedict XVI's historic resignation.The 115 cardinal electors who pick the next leader of 1.2 billion Catholics in a conclave in the Sistine Chapel will live inside the Vatican walls completely cut off from the outside world until they have made their choice. AFP PHOTO / GABRIEL BOUYS (GABRIEL BOUYS GABRIEL BOUYS)
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, of the US, attends a Mass for the election of a new pope celebrated by Cardinal Angelo Sodano inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Tuesday, March 12, 2013. Cardinals enter the Sistine Chapel on Tuesday to elect the next pope amid more upheaval and uncertainty than the Catholic Church has seen in decades: There's no front-runner, no indication how long voting will last and no sense that a single man has what it takes to fix the many problems. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) (Andrew Medichini)
Ghanaian cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson attends a mass at the St Peter's basilica on March 12, 2013 at the Vatican. Cardinals moved into the Vatican today as the suspense mounted ahead of a secret papal election with no clear frontrunner to steer the Catholic world through troubled waters after Benedict XVI's historic resignation.The 115 cardinal electors who pick the next leader of 1.2 billion Catholics in a conclave in the Sistine Chapel will live inside the Vatican walls completely cut off from the outside world until they have made their choice. AFP PHOTO / GABRIEL BOUYS (GABRIEL BOUYS GABRIEL BOUYS)
FILE -- In this file picture taken on April 12, 2005, South African Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier leaves the Vatican after the daily meeting of the College of Cardinals. A pastor in Ontario wondered about behind-the-scenes politicking ahead of the conclave to elect the next pope. He could have read news reports on the church leaders' pre-conclave meetings, or listened to briefings by the Vatican spokesman. Instead, he asked a cardinal. Less than an hour later, the response arrived.``What I see is a real desire to know, and so evaluate, the papabile against criteria of qualities demanded by situations'' in the church now, wrote Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of Durban, South Africa, using the term ``papabile'' for cardinals seen as papal contenders. The exchange occurred on Twitter, one of many online interactions that have made this papal succession unlike any other for Roman Catholics and observers far from Vatican City. (AP Photo/Plinio Lepri) (Plinio Lepri)
Londres. AFP y AP. El cardenal italiano Angelo Scola era considerado favorito ayer en las casas de apuestas para ser elegido papa en el actual cónclave del Vaticano, delante del ghanés Peter Turkson y el brasileño Odilo Scherer.
Los corredores también aceptaban apuestas sobre el futuro nombre que adoptará el nuevo pontífice. Los favoritos eran León, Pedro y Gregorio.
La casa de apuestas británica William Hill y la irlandesa Paddy Power dijeron que Scola ocupaba la primera posición para ser el próximo papa.
Según William Hill, el segundo favorito para convertirse en sucesor de Benedicto XVI era el ghanés Peter Turkson y Scherer, el tercero. Para Paddy Power, Scherer es segundo y Turkson tercero. En lo que respecta al nombre que adoptará el futuro papa, León es el favorito, delante de Pedro y Gregorio.
Ante la expectativa por saber quién será el próximo Papa, algunos recordarán el artículo 2413 del Catecismo de la Iglesia católica, según el cual los juegos de azar “no son en sí mismos contrarios a la justicia”, pero “resultan moralmente inaceptables cuando privan a la persona de lo que le es necesario para atender a sus necesidades”.
“El dinero sigue llegando para Scola y nos hemos visto obligados a bajar la proporción entre ganancia y apuesta”, dijo –por su parte– Jessica Bridge, de Ladbrokes. “Cuanto más cerca estamos del cónclave, más difícil es ver que un extranjero dé la sorpresa”.
Arzobispo de Milán, de 72 años y teólogo destacado, Scola es conocido como un cardenal de personalidad seria y enérgica.
Gran promotor del diálogo con los países musulmanes por medio de la revista Oasis , cuenta con mucha experiencia pastoral y fue también patriarca de Venecia, por donde han pasado cinco papas italianos, entre ellos Juan XXIII.
Considerado el discípulo más famoso de Joseph Ratzinger (Benedicto XVI), en el pasado perteneció al influyente y controvertido movimiento italiano de centroderecha Comunión y Liberación, del que se ha alejado en los últimos años.
Menos ‘papables’. Hay poco consenso sobre cuáles cardenales tienen menos probabilidades, pero entre los “ candidatos ” no cardenalicios hay un nombre que destaca: el cantante Bono, de la banda U2, un músico conocido por sus obras de caridad y activismo político.
El cantante está listado con probabilidades de 1.000 a 1 en Paddy Power, Ladbrokes y William Hill. Otros candidatos muy inusuales son el futbolista italiano Mario Balotelli y el cantante Justin Bieber, quienes pagan 2.500-1 y 10.000-1, respectivamente.