Pope: Irish lead the way in next Pope betting.

Byline: GEOFFREY RIDDLE

ALTHOUGH thesad news of Pope John Paul Pope John Paul is the name of two Popes of the Roman Catholic Church:

Pope John Paul I (1978), who named himself in honor of his predecessors, Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul VI. Reigned for only 34 calendar days
Pope John Paul II (1978–2005), the only Polish Pope.

II's demise on Saturday night prompted bookmaker Paddy Power to suspend their betting on the vacant Papacy, the Irish firm promise Pontiff punters that their prices will be available this morning.

P ower go 11-4 the field with Nigerian candidate Francis Arinze His Eminence Cardinal Francis Arinze, (born 1 November 1932 in Eziowelle, Nigeria) is an African prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments since 2002 and Cardinal Bishop of sharing favouritism with the 71-year-old Archbishop of Milan, Dionigi Tettamanzi Dionigi Tettamanzi (born 14 March 1934) is an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He currently serves as Archbishop of Milan, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1998. Previous to his service in Milan, Tettamanzi was Archbishop of Genoa. .

Arinze's position in the market is due to his expertise in Islam, while Tettamanzi's pastoral post has been the springboard of all but a handful of Popes down the centuries.

However, the election of P olish-born John Paul II John Paul II, 1920–2005, pope (1978–2005), a Pole (b. Wadowice) named Karol Józef Wojtyła; successor of John Paul I. He was the first non-Italian pope elected since the Dutch Adrian VI (1522–23) and the first Polish and Slavic pope. in 1978 broke the 455-year stranglehold the Italians had on the No. 1 Catholic post.

Of the 117 cardinals eligible to vote in around 15 days' time only 20 of those are Italian, and therefore it is reasonable to suggest that punters should place their faith in a nonItalian candidate.

Sixty-five per cent of catholics now live in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and with an excellent grasp of many Latin American languages, the 69-year-old P atriarch of Lisbon, Cardinal Jose da Cruz Policarpo, looks an almighty punt at Paddy P ower's 33-1. Betfair are also taking bets.

To be the next Pope - Paddy Power: 11-4 F Arinze, D Tettamanzi, 9-2 O Maradiaga, 7 C Hummes, J Ratzinger, 14 J LOrtega, EAntonelli, C Von Shoenborn, 16 G Battista Re, 18 D Castrillon Hoyos, G Biffi, C Sepe, 20 K O'Brien, A Scola. Others on request

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Title Annotation:	Sports
Publication:	The Racing Post (London, England)
Date:	Apr 4, 2005
Words:	246
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