Betting on papal race heats up
17/04/2005 16:05  - (SA)  

Want to know more? Answerit can help.

Potential popes line up Cardinals 'must heed ambition' Spammers cash in on pope Mel to film pope's story History of popes 'murky' Cardinals: Pray for us New urns for papal conclave Bookie favours Nigerian pope Fear of hardliner pope

London - Punters betting on the election of the next pope are unlikely to make a killing on any of the favourites - British and Irish bookmakers were Sunday offering short odds on the front-runners with Germany's Joseph Ratzinger heading the list.

Both Dublin's Paddy Power bookmakers and London's William Hill had Ratzinger in the lead - at 3-1 and 9-2 respectively - followed by French Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger.

Paddy Power was offering 9-2 on Lustiger and 5-1 on liberal hope Carlo Maria Martini in third place.

With William Hill however Martini was tied for third with fellow Italian Dionigi Tettamanzi at 7-1.

William Hill, Britain's largest bookmakers, has taken bets on the papal race since the last Vatican conclave in 1978. The company said that betting stretches back as far as 1994, when one man put 30 pounds on Lustiger, now one of the clear favourites. Should Lustiger win the foresighted punter stands to collect £1 000 pounds.

The Catholic Church last year however condemned gambling on the papal succession calling

What is this? Yahoo Digg Del.icio.us Facebook Brought to you by OUTsurance Car Insurance
	News24 Headlines on your Facebook profile		News24 on mobile