Roman Catholic cardinals began a conclave on Monday to find a successor to Pope John Paul after a leading contender staked out conservative battle-lines with a call for the next pontiff to uphold traditional values. One by one, the red-robed cardinals placed their right hand on a book of the gospels laid in the middle of the Renaissance chapel, swearing an oath of secrecy and fidelity to the Church. Michelangelo's imposing fresco of the Last Judgement stared down on the prelates, drawn from six continents and 52 countries, while an organ played softly in the background.
Whoever eventually emerges from the conclave as leader of the 1.1 billion-member Church will have to fill the vacuum left by the death of John Paul, whose 26-year papacy was one of the most dynamic in history, but also divisive.
The first decision awaiting the cardinals was whether to hold an initial vote on Monday, to test the strength of the various camps, or delay their first ballot until Tuesday.
All the outside world will know of their work is when a puff of smoke blows out of the chapel's chimney - black smoke when there is no decision and white smoke when a pope is elected.
As evening descended on Rome, thousands of people flowed into St. Peter's Square in the hope that the cardinals would vote and send the first spiral of smoke out from the chimney.
Just hours before the conclave opened, Joseph Ratzinger, the Vatican's doctrinal watchdog for 23 years, warned fellow cardinals that they must choose a pontiff to defend traditional Church orthodoxy.
"An adult faith is not one that follows tides of trends and the latest novelties," he told a pre-conclave Mass at St. Peter's Basilica in a sermon that many Vatican watchers interpreted as a bid to promote his own candidacy.
Since John Paul's death on April 2, media and bookmakers have tipped Ratzinger, a close aide of the Polish pontiff and preacher at his funeral, as the early favourite to succeed him.
But most Vatican experts doubt that the 78-year-old German will be able to garner the two-thirds majority needed to become pope, leaving the field wide open.
EVERYONE OUT: Following the opening oath, Archbishop Piero Marini, the master of papal ceremonies, said in Latin "Extra omnes" - "Everyone out" - ordering non-electors to leave the room.
The cardinals remained behind, sitting side-by-side on two sets of double-rowed tables that stretched down the chapel. Each had a name plate in front of them, underscoring the fact that not all of them know each other very well.
As the wooden doors of the Sistine Chapel closed, applause broke out in St. Peter's Square where crowds of faithful had followed the opening ceremony on giant television screens. "If you don't believe, you think this is like politics. But if you believe, as I do, in the power of prayer, you know they will be illuminated to make the right choice," said Annick Vandamme, who had travelled from Paris.
Under the terms of Church law that has evolved over centuries, the cardinals will vote up to four times a day, twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon, until a pope is selected.
Of the eight 20th century conclaves, none took longer than five days, and two were completed on the second day.
Most Vatican experts expect a relatively quick conclave this time around, predicting that white smoke will rise above the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday evening or Thursday. They fear a long conclave would point to deep and dangerous divisions.
Among the major issues facing the next pope are the growing spiritual poverty of Europe, the material poverty of the third world and devolution of power within the Church. Critics of John Paul said he focused too much power in the hands of the Vatican and smothered theological debate.
The cardinals will hold no debate within the Sistine Chapel but will be able to hold informal chats over meals and in their sequestered lodgings, which lie within the walled Vatican City.