VATICAN CITY (AP) — Cardinals have gathered for their final day of talks before the conclave to elect the next pope amid debate over whether the Catholic Church needs a manager pope to clean up the Vatican’s messy bureaucracy or a pastoral pope who can inspire the faithful and make Catholicism relevant again.
Several cardinals were signed up to speak at Monday’s closed-door session, an indication that the red-capped prelates still have plenty to discuss before sequestering themselves Tuesday afternoon in the Sistine Chapel for the first vote.
There’s no clear front-runner, but a handful of names are circulating as top candidates.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.