Bookie favours Nigerian pope
2005-04-11 16:35
Cork - Cardinal Francis Arinze of Nigeria has been installed as favourite to become the next pope by Ireland's biggest bookmaker.
Arinze, 73, currently the only African cardinal in the Roman Curia, has been given odds of 11-4 by Paddy Power Bookmakers, which has a chain of shops in both Ireland and Britain as well a popular betting website.
German Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, 77, who has been touted as a possible "transition pope", has been given odds of 6-1 while Italian Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi is at 4-1.
The conclave to choose a successor to John Paul II, chaired by Ratzinger, is due to begin in the Sistine Chapel on April 18. - Sapa-dpa
- SAPA