Brazil, Italy and Africa for a “Latin” pope

Cardinal Odilo Scherer

It is rumored that these three countries would make a consensus for this purpose. Brazilian media have deployed unprecedented coverage, based on Italian media speculation surrounding the figure of Cardinal Odilo Scherer, 63, considered the most “suitable for the office of pope” of the 5 Brazilian cardinals who will vote in the conclave.

Newspaper O Estado de Sao Paulo reported that Sherer is part of a  political negotiation with the European, especially the Italians, because in his papacy he would count with Italian Mario Piacenza as secretary of Vatican State.

The newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo reported yesterday that the Brazilian delegation adopted a type of campaign in the Vatican around the figure of Sherer, who is the seventh of 13 children. Born in Cerro Largo, Rio Grande do Sul, in 1949. Two years later the family moved to a farm in Toledo, in western Paraná.

The truth is that Latin America is at the center of attention at the Vatican with 19 votes. Cardinals used as sources of information indicate that there is a consensus that the Europeans do not guarantee a renewal of the Church.