How the Church elects a new pope

Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer, 63, Archbishop of São Paulo
22 February 2013, 9:00

The strongest Latin American candidate. Not only has he headed the largest diocese in the world's largest Catholic country since 2007, he also has sterling Roman credentials. German-Brazilian by birth, he obtained a licentiate and doctorate in theology at the Gregorian University and spent several years working at the Congregation for Bishops (1994-2001). In between, he worked in the Diocese of Toledo (Brazil) as a seminary rector and parish priest. An auxiliary bishop since 2001 and cardinal since 2007, the Roman Curia, Europeans and Latinos could find him a compromise candidate