Is the world ready for a black pope?

The leading African candidate is Cardinal Francis Arinze, a 72-year-old Nigerian who has worked at the Vatican for more than 20 years. (Reuters, 4/15/05)

Language may be key for next pope
Pope John Paul II was able to communicate in several languages. And if he didn't know one before traveling to a foreign country, a coach prepared him for remarks in such languages as Japanese, Swahili, even Papua New Guinea's native tongue, Melanesian Pidgin. (Boston Globe, 4/15/05)

Saint process a pressing item for new pope
Even though cardinals haven't yet cast a single ballot for a new pope, there's already a pressing item on the future pope's agenda: whether to declare Pope John Paul II a saint outright -- or at least accelerate the saint-making process. (AP, 4/14/05)

Italians may play big role in picking pope
For centuries, Italians went into conclaves as kingmakers and one of them came out a pope. Then a Pole came along, and a lot of long-held perceptions about the papacy went up in puffs of white smoke. (AP, 4/14/05)

Stakes high for conservative group
MADRID -- As cardinals prepare to elect a new pope, one Catholic community in particular has much at stake -- Opus Dei, the ultraconservative movement at the center of the furor generated by ''The Da Vinci Code." (Boston Globe, 4/14/05)

New Pope's First Message? 'A Name is a Sign'
The first message a new pope sends to the world is encoded in the name he chooses. (Reuters, 4/14/05)

Politics, challenges to church to guide choice of successor
This morning, at 10:30 in Rome, the princes of the Catholic Church will file into Bologna Hall of the Apostolic Palace, still grieving over the death of Pope John Paul II, but looking increasingly toward the moment in two weeks when they will formally begin to choose his successor. (Boston Globe, 4/4/05)

Conclave uses media to set agenda for vote
Just as John Paul II became the first pope to skillfully use the world's media to spread his message, this conclave is the first to use it to set the agenda for election of the church's next spiritual leader. (Boston Globe, 4/10/05)

For next pontiff, daunting challenges await
Nearly 27 years ago, John Paul II assumed the papacy in an era when the church confronted the real prospect of nuclear war in a world divided between East and West. (Boston Globe, 4/3/05)

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger elected new pope

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, the Roman Catholic Church's leading hard-liner, was elected pope Tuesday in the first conclave of the new millennium. He chose the name Benedict XVI and called himself "a simple, humble worker." (AP)

 Cardinals set to renew effort to choose pope

 Italians speculate on their local favorites

 Faithful around the world wait

 Oath taken by cardinals

 Rules for the conclave

 Choosing a new pope

 Possible successors to Pope John Paul II

Anticipation builds

On the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, where the next pope will be introduced to the world, a red curtain now hangs open, as if waiting for a cardinal to arrive and pronounce the news in Latin: ''Habemus Papam." (Boston Globe)

 ROME: Tailors, bettors weave their guesses

 POPEMOBILES: John Paul's driving machines fine-tuned