Cardinals Lay Groundwork For Conclave, Hope For Quick Vote

A week before the conclave to choose a new pope opens, preparatory talks intensified Wednesday as cardinals sounded out potential candidates -- with many hoping the election will be quick.

More than 180 "Princes of the Church" met behind closed doors in their seventh meeting since Pope Francis died on April 21, to discuss what they want from the next leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics.

"There is a lot of dialogue," said Colombian Cardinal Jorge Enrique Jimenez Carvajal, 83, as he entered the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican for the talks.

"The atmosphere is very peaceful."

After discussing issues such as child sex abuse in the Church and the institution's role in the modern world earlier in the week, talk turned on Wednesday to the Vatican's finances.

The conclave begins on May 7, when a record 133 cardinals -- those under the age of 80 who are eligible to vote -- will enter the Sistine Chapel to vote in secret for a new pontiff.

They will vote four times a day until two-thirds of them -- at least 89 cardinals -- agree on a single candidate.

Many cardinals have expressed hope for a short conclave, closer to the two days needed to elect both Francis and his predecessor Benedict XVI than the almost three years it took in the 13th century.

"Maximum three days," predicted Salvadorian Cardinal Gregorio Rosa Chavez in passing.

With around 80 percent of cardinal electors having been appointed in the past 12 years by Francis, and hailing from all four corners of the globe, many of those voting have never met.

At the meetings this week and last, "we are listening to people whom we have never listened to before... and that guides you," Cardinal Cristobal Lopez Romero, the Spanish-born Archbishop of Rabat, told AFP.

Francis, the first Latin American pope, opened the arms of the Catholic Church to the poor and marginalised.

While that drew fervent devotion from many believers, his critics argued that he did not focus enough on key doctrines.

The question now is whether his successor will follow in the same path, or forge a new one.

"It doesn't necessarily have to be a Francis mark II, a Francis impersonator," said Lopez.

"I am happy for him to be a good impersonator of Christ, that he is a good Christian, a good person and pays attention to what happens in the world."

One European cardinal elector, who asked not to be named, said that what struck him was the diversity of the men called to choose a new pope.

"When the Africans or the South Americans speak, they are of different worlds. Not so much opposed, but we have a very Eurocentric view," he said.

"We see that we do not have the same priorities."

The meetings -- the so-called "general congregations" -- were a form of analysis where "we listen, we try to understand" the issues before deciding on one person next week, he added.

On Monday, the Vatican said the cardinals had outlined Catholicism's most pressing challenges, including "evangelisation, the relationship with other faiths" and also the scourge of clerical child sex abuse.

On Tuesday, they focused on "the role of the Church in today's world".

On Wednesday, discussions turned to the issue of the Vatican's economic and financial situation -- a potentially painful discussion, with experts warning it is facing a severe crisis.

Cardinal Reinhard Marx, coordinator of the Vatican's Council for the Economy, presented an overview of "existing challenges and critical issues", a Vatican statement said.

There was also an update on the current situation at the once scandal-hit Vatican bank, the Institute for Religious Works (IOR), which has undergone a clean-up. It is responsible for assets belonging to religious orders and organisations.

And there were discussions on what the Vatican called the "suffering caused by polarisation within the Church and the divisions in society".

There will be no meeting on Thursday, which is a public holiday in Italy, but the talks resume on Friday.