ROME, Italy - One hundred and fifty-five black robes with scarlet sashes, nearly as many scarlet skullcaps and a cane or two were visible near St. Peter's Basilica today as the largest gathering of Roman Catholic cardinals ever called to Rome got down to business.
The official task before them is to help forge a path for the church in Christianity's third millennium. But as Pope John Paul II grows increasingly frail, many Vatican experts view the meeting as a dress rehearsal for the next conclave, the meeting of the "princes of the Church" who will elect the next pope in the centuries-old setting of the Vatican's Sistine Chapel.
The pope's supporters have vigorously denounced speculation that the 81-year-old John Paul may step down if his physical ailments prohibit him from carrying out his mission. Still, Vatican watchers say that politicking among the cardinals and their various geographic blocs is inevitable, if not in good taste.
The pope opened the meeting, known as an extraordinary consistory, with a brief message recalling the spirit of the Jubilee Holy Year that closed in January. He greeted "this venerated assembly, that gathers bishops from every corner of the world, belonging to varying cultures, that well represent the unity, universality and mission of the church, looking to new apostolic horizons."
It is this pope's sixth such convocation of his far-flung advisers in his nearly 23 years as leader of the world's estimated 1 billion Catholics. John Paul has appointed all but 11 of the 134 cardinals who will be eligible to vote for the next pope (another 49, having reached their 80th birthdays, are denied votes by Vatican rules).
Last February he raised a record 44 men to the position of cardinal. A few were theologians, including the Rev. Avery Dulles, formerly of Catholic University, but most were bishops and archbishops, such as Theodore McCarrick, Washington's newly appointed archbishop.
So the College of Cardinals is now made up mostly of men believed to follow the pope's strict adherence to doctrine on issues regarding personal and sexual freedom, the primacy of the Catholic Church and devotion to the Virgin Mary.
Less clear is how many agree with his historic apologies for what he calls errors of the church with regard to other religions, or his deep interest in the world's social issues and the effect of unbridled economic globalization on the world's poor.
The cardinals, who gather in morning and afternoon meetings at Synod Hall at the Vatican, have many issues to digest in the four-day closed encounter. While a consistory has no power to execute policy or issue documents, this pope has considered these meetings as a valuable tool in sounding out thinking and practices of the church in various parts of the globe.
The point of reference is the pope's document "Novo Millennio Ineunte," the incoming new millennium, which he issued in January at the end of the Jubilee Year, the just-completed year of celebration and pilgrimage marking the 2,000th anniversary of the birth of Jesus. The document touches on topics as diverse as evangelization and abortion.
The influential Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, shares the duty of moderating the meeting with Germany's Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, an adamant keeper of Catholic doctrine, and Cardinal Bernardin Gantin of Benin, who as deacon of the College of Cardinals opened the ceremonies.
Prior to this meeting, Sodano sent to the cardinals a 14-page letter that contained 21 questions and listed seven categories of discussion, according to Italian newspapers.
The categories were: the essence of Christ and dialogue with non-Christian religions; the vocation to saintliness; the challenge of New Age religions; the Catholic Church's relations with other Christian religions; globalization and poverty; challenges to church authority in matters of sexuality and biotechnology; and the Church and the mass media.
The consistory will end Thursday with a lunch with John Paul in the newly constructed dormitory for cardinals, Domus Sanctae Marthae, at the Vatican.