Europe cannot be counted out and Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Austria tops the list. There are others like Godfried Daneels of Belgium, Jean-Marie Lustiger of France who also figure in the discussions.

Cardinal Schonborn, 58, is considered a man of broad intellectual capacity, a linguist, good communicator, an accomplished theologian, an expert in philosophy, psychology and a deeply religious man.

He has everything going for him except his age, as not many want a Papacy that would last for more than three decades.

Cardinal Schonborn believes in change, forgiveness, reconciliation and renewal.

Photograph: PATRICK HERTZOG/AFP/Getty Images

Also See: How the Pope touched India