Sawt Falasteen - Cardinals pray as conclave rituals begin

A total of 133 cardinal electors are taking part in the conclave, the highly secretive election to pick a successor to Pope Francis, who died last month after a 12-year papacy.

After attending a final mass in St Peter's Basilica on Wednesday morning, the prelates gathered in the Vatican's Pauline Chapel in silent prayer.

They then proceeded into the 15th-century Sistine Chapel -- a few metres way -- for the conclave itself, where they will be locked in.

The cardinals hail from all corners of the globe, representing around 70 countries -- and many of them did not know each other before they were summoned after Francis's death.

There is no clear frontrunner to succeed the charismatic Argentine, with the cardinals representing a range of progressive and conservative traditions within the Church.

But the challenges facing the 2,000-year-old institution are clear.

At a time of geopolitical uncertainty, the new pope faces diplomatic balancing acts, as well as Church infighting, the continued fall-out from the clerical child abuse scandal, and -- in the West -- increasingly empty pews.

- Pray for unity -

At the mass earlier, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals who himself is too old to vote, offered his peers some final advice.

"We are here to invoke the help of the Holy Spirit, to implore his light and strength so that the pope elected may be he whom the Church and humanity need at this difficult and complex turning point in history," he said.

"This is also a strong call to maintain the unity of the Church... a unity that does not mean uniformity, but a firm and profound communion in diversity."

The cardinal said it was a choice of "exceptional importance", which required the red-robed prelates to set aside "every personal consideration".

The mass was the last rite to be celebrated publicly before the Church's 267th pope is presented to the world from a balcony of St Peter's Basilica.

Both Francis and his predecessor Benedict XVI were elected within two days, but the longest papal election in Church history lasted 1,006 days, from 1268 to 1271.

This conclave is the largest ever, and the next pontiff will have to secure at least 89 votes -- a two-thirds majority.

- Swear an oath -

Under the ceiling of frescoes painted by Michelangelo, Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin -- the senior elector -- will call on God to give the cardinals "the spirit of intelligence, truth and peace" needed for their task.

Parolin, a frontrunner who was Francis's number two as secretary of state, will then lead the cardinals in chanting the Latin invocation of the Holy Spirit: "Veni, Creator Spiritus".

The cardinals have spent days discussing the most pressing challenges facing the Catholic Church and the character traits its new leader needs.

Burning issues include falling priest numbers, the role of women, the Vatican's troubled balance sheets and how to adapt the Church to the modern world.

Battista Re urged the cardinals to pray for "a pope who knows how best to awaken the consciences of all... in today's society, characterised by great technological progress but which tends to forget God".

Meanwhile across Rome, women's rights activist gathered to protest the absence of any women in the conclave.

"We are saying to the cardinals, you cannot keep ignoring 50 percent of the Catholic population, you cannot go into a locked room and discuss the future of the Church without half of the Church," said Miriam Duignan, of the UK-based Wijngaards Institute for Catholic Research.

Some 80 percent of the cardinals were appointed by Francis -- an impulsive, charismatic champion of the downtrodden.

But while interviews in the run-up suggested that some cardinals favour a leader able to protect and develop his legacy, others want a more conservative defender of doctrine.

More than a dozen names are circulating, from Italian Pierbattista Pizzaballa to Hungary's Peter Erdo and Sri Lanka's Malcolm Ranjith.

We may never know how close a race it is. Having surrendered mobile phones, the red-robed cardinals will swear an oath to keep the conclave's secrets.

They also each pledge to "faithfully" serve as pope should they be chosen, before the master of liturgical ceremonies says "Extra omnes" ("Everyone out").

Once the doors close, the cardinals fill out ballots marked "Eligo in Summum Pontificem" ("I elect as Supreme Pontiff").

They then carry them, folded, and place them on a silver plate which is used to tip them into an urn, set on a table in front of Michelangelo's Last Judgment.

Battista Re said he hoped "Michelangelo's looming image of Jesus the Judge would remind everyone of the greatness of the responsibility".

Outside, hundreds of the faithful have gathered on St Peter's Square, all eyes trained on the Sistine Chapel chimney, with news of the first vote expected by early evening Wednesday.

B.Khalifa--SF-PST