WHO will be the next pope? Cardinals who elect Benedict XVI's successor later this month must choose a leader capable of guiding the church through a difficult period, marred by scandals, internal tensions and growing secularism.
Benedict's rule has been criticised as overly "eurocentric" in some quarters and Vatican watchers say the college of cardinals set to meet in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican for the secret vote may seize the moment to elect a Latin-American, African or Asian pope.
Others say 85-year-old Benedict may call on the cardinals to elect someone younger, who is less likely to suffer failing health early in his mandate.
"His decision to step down will have a big influence on the choice of the future pope. The old must make way for the young. The church needs it," said Marco Politi, Vatican expert and author of a celebrated biography on Benedict.
Among those tipped as candidates are Canadian Marc Ouellet and the Archbishop of Milan, Angelo Scola, though some analysts have said they are likely to be considered as not charismatic enough to revive faith amid rising secularism.
Previous hot tickets Peter Erdo, from Hungary, and the pope's Austrian friend Christoph Schoenborn, have recently dropped in favour, while American Timothy Dolan is increasingly tipped for his mediation skills - key in helping the Vatican overhaul its image in modern society following a damaging wave of clerical child abuse scandals.
Writing on US website National Review Online, American priest and political and cultural commentator, Father Robert Sirico said Cardinals Ouellet and Scola were the favourites, but also added "even Cardinal George Pell from Australia" was a chance.
The bookies don't think so though, with Ladbrokes listing Cardinal Pell at 66/1, behind 28 other candidates.
Ladbrokes installed Ouellet as their favourite at 3/1, with Ghanaian Peter Turkson at 4/1, while Scola and Nigeria's Francis Arinze are at 5/1.
William Hill, Britain's largest bookmaker, offered odds of 3/1 for Arinze, with Ouellet and Turkson at 7/2.
While bookmakers had given even odds on the choice of Joseph Ratzinger in April 2005, no-one had foreseen Karol Wojtyla's surprise election in 1978.
Frontrunners in Latin America - which boasts the largest number of practicing Catholics in the world - are Claudio Hummes and Joao Braz de Aviz.
Progressives favour Honduran Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, head of Caritas Internationalis, but he is considered by the Church's more traditional members to lean too far left, and is unlikely to win the two-thirds majority needed.
Among the outsiders to watch, experts note dynamic Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle - the Church's second youngest cardinal, appointed just last year at 55 years old - is very popular in Asia and is rising fast within the Vatican.
There are 118 cardinals who are under the age of 80 and therefore eligible to vote. The red-robed cardinals, who usually meet between 15 and 20 days after the death of a pope, take an oath of secrecy when they enter - and are automatically excommunicated if they break that oath.
Sixty-two of the cardinals are European, 28 of whom are Italian, while 19 come from South America, 14 from North America, 11 from Africa, 11 from Asia and Pell is the lone vote from Oceania.
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