New Delhi, India - No Indian is in the race to become the next Pope, church leaders here insisted Thursday.
Contrary to some media speculation, none of the Indian cardinals is even contemplating trying to succeed Pope John Paul II, who is in such poor health that he could not even deliver the customary Easter message.
"Reports that an Indian archbishop could be the next Pope are absolutely speculative," Donald D' Souza, deputy secretary general of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), told IANS.
"There is no canvassing or candidate (going on) for papal election," he added.
A published report said Mumbai Archbishop Ivan Diaz could succeed the Polish pontiff in Rome to lead the 1.1 billion Roman Catholic population.
"These are baseless reports. The papal election does not happen just like that. These are nothing but wild imagination," CBCI spokesman Father Babu Joseph said.
Quoting an Italian saying, D'Souza said: "One who enters the conclave (to elect the new Pope) as a possible Pope returns only as a cardinal."
At the same time he said every cardinal was a possible Pope.
"The new Pope emerges as a result of intense prayers and the divine spirit's intervention. No one can predict about it nor can one be projected as the next Pope," D'souza said.
"The Indian church will be extremely happy and proud if the next Pope comes from the country. It will be a matter of joy for us. No doubt about that."
Among the five cardinals from India, only three can enter the conclave for the election of the supreme spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
They are Archbishop Diaz, Telesphore Toppo of Ranchi and Varkey Vithayathil of Kerala. The three can enter the 120-member cardinal college for the papal election.
The other two, Cardinal Lourd Swamy, who is based in Rome, and Cardinal Simon Pimenta (Mumbai) are over 80 years old and cannot vote to elect the pontiff.
The cardinal college will assemble to elect a new Pope if John Paul were to pass away or step down owing to ill health.
Pope John Paul II, who was elected at the age of 58 in 1978, is the first non-Italian to be elected to the pontificate since Adrian VI of the Netherlands, who was briefly pope in 1522-23.