Is it time for a Third World pope?

Speculation is rife that next pope could be from Latin America, Africa or Asia.

As cardinals rushed to the Vatican to begin the process of selecting a new pope, many back home were asking a pointed question: If most of the world's Roman Catholics live in the developing world, why has every pope been European?

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The possibility that the next pope could come from Latin America, Africa or Asia is creating a buzz from Mexico City to Manila, from Tegucigalpa to Kinshasa. Many Latin American Catholics said the only way to improve on a papacy they overwhelmingly supported would be to select someone from their own ranks.

Their hopes were fuelled by the last papal conclave, in which a Polish archbishop became the first non-Italian pope in 455 years, as well as by the global outreach John Paul II made the cornerstone of his papacy. They also have been boosted by sheer numbers: Half the world's one billion Roman Catholics live in Latin America alone, and the church is seeing explosive growth in Africa and Asia.

Even outside Roman Catholicism, leaders from the developing world saw a chance for change.

"We hope that perhaps the cardinals when they meet will follow the first non-Italian pope by electing the first African pope," Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu said on Sunday from Cape Town, South Africa.

Many Catholics in poor countries said a pope from their own regions would better understand the challenges they face, and would make the church more relevant in the lives of its increasingly diverse followers.

While several names from developing countries have been mentioned as candidates, it is unclear what kind of chance Third World religious leaders stand.

Only 21 of the cardinals eligible to vote on the new pontiff are from South America, and only 11 from Africa, compared with 58 from Europe alone.

Vatican observers disagree over the amount of pressure there will be to return the papacy to an Italian - Italy still has 20 voting-age cardinals, by far the largest group - or whether the conclave could expand the message of universality by selecting a candidate from a developing country.

Church leaders insist the cardinals' decision will not be based on a geographical calculation. The candidates, they say, will be judged by their faith and their ability to lead.

"It won't matter where he comes from, from which continent," Sao Paulo, Brazil Archbishop Claudio Hummes, who is often mentioned as a candidate, said on Friday after Mass.

"It will matter that the cardinals will be in front of God, under oath, and they will have to choose the one they think is the man for this moment in the history of the church and the world."

Beyond national rivalries, many said a Latin American pope would help the church counter Protestant evangelism, and a Third World pope with roots among the poor would be better able to respond to the most pressing needs of his flock.