Cardinals Francis Arinze of Nigeria (left) and Giovanni Batista Re of Italy attend mass in St. Peter?s Basilica at the Vatican. (AFP)

Rome, April 10: The Roman Catholic Cardinals will take an oath of secrecy when they enter the conclave to elect the next Pope, but in the week since John Paul II?s death many have been publicly dropping hints about what kind of man the church now needs.

The enormous outpouring of affection for John Paul has clearly had an impact on their thinking. Many of the prelates said in noticeably similar language that while the next Pope may have a very different style than John Paul, he must above all be an effective communicator of the faith who can sustain the grass-roots enthusiasm, especially among youth, that John Paul generated.

With all but three of the 117 cardinal electors selected by John Paul, it is highly unlikely that the new Pope will depart from his conservatism on contraception, divorce, women as priests or the range of what the church considers to be ?sanctity of life? issues, from stem-cell research to abortion and euthanasia.

Before the Pope?s death, many cardinals and commentators said a decisive factor could be geography ? whether the next Pope should come from Europe, where the church is shrinking, or from Latin America, Africa or parts of Asia, where the church is experiencing rapid growth.

But since the Pope?s death, the cardinals have said they are looking for someone who can project universal appeal with a personal humility and pastoral presence that embodies the message of the gospel, as they say John Paul did. It is not, many cardinals said in interviews, that they must choose a great orator.

?He doesn?t have to be John Paul II and have the same fingerprints,? said Cardinal J. Francis Stafford, formerly the archbishop of Denver and now a high-ranking Vatican official. ?He just has to be his authentic self,? Cardinal Stafford added. ?He will lead them to Christ, and that?s all that?s necessary.?

Cardinal Stafford and others spoke before yesterday, when the Vatican spokesperson, Joaqu?Navarro-Valls, announced that the cardinals had decided unanimously at their daily meeting ?to avoid interviews and contact with the media,? whose members were ?invited to abstain? from seeking out comment.

?The cardinals have begun a period of more intense silence and prayer in the face of the conclave,? he said. Two cardinals cannot attend for health reasons, bringing the total count of electors to 115, the Vatican said.

The men who will elect one of their own to be the leader of a church of more than a billion people are the most ethnically and geographically diverse college of cardinals in history, thanks to the effort by John Paul to increase the number of non-Italians.

Many cardinals emphasized last week the need for increased dialogue with Muslim leaders. ?You don?t want a clash of religions,? said Cardinal Avery Dulles, a theology professor at Fordham University and a non-voter. He identified ecumenism as one of two priorities for the next Pope along with pushing forward with John Paul?s effort to evangelise in the West.

More than at any past conclave this one has an unusually large number of papabili, the Italian word to describe those with Pope potential.

Several cardinals have indicated a strong desire for someone with the pastoral qualities of cardinals who are also archbishops. Perhaps none of this matters, some cardinals suggested, returning to the charisma issue.

?He has to be able to communicate with rich, young people in countries like the United States and France,? said Cardinal Philippe Barbarin of France. ?Then he needs to be able to relate to the poor when he goes to places like Brazil or Morocco or Burkina Faso. He has to be a person who can explain the Gospels to every type of audience. He has to really love his flock; he has to understand their sufferings, their difficulties,? he said. ?John Paul II was that kind of Pope.?