Senior prelates: "Morto un Papa, se ne fa un altro" - the Pope is dead, let's elect another one.
Even though the conclave that will elect John Paul II's successor will not take place for at least 12 days, there were plenty of signs in Rome yesterday that the question of the next pope is already much on the minds of senior cardinals.
Even at this stage, however, it is clear that some of those minds are on different wavelengths. Asked to respond yesterday to the suggestion by Brazilian Cardinal Geraldo Agnelo that the next pope would be chosen quickly, Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick of Washington responded: "Well, that guy hasn't sent me those instructions yet. I've not had that sort of talk with him."
Asked if he would like to indicate something about the desired age and/or nationality of the next pope, Cardinal McCarrick responded: "I can't go there. All over the world people are speculating but right here in Rome, there are 117 folks not allowed to speculate and I apologise for that."
Cardinal McCarrick's compatriot, Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, acknowledged that the next pope would, ideally, be someone capable of dealing with issues such as dialogue with Islam, the rich-poor gap worldwide and the challenges posed by "aggressive secularisation", bio-medical research and liberal western sexual morality.
Asked if he knew of anyone who fitted the bill or if he had a specific candidate in mind, Cardinal George replied: "Necessarily one begins to think through this but I really don't have a specific person. Some cardinals I barely know, so I'm not thinking about them, but I'm interested in knowing more about them."
Cardinal George did, however, suggest that the church's teaching on fundamental issues such as sexual mores is not going to change, whoever is named as a successor to John Paul II.
Although suggesting that the cardinals will strive to make "the best choice for the church", Cardinal George repeated his own assertion that "the best choice" will almost certainly preclude a North American from being elected.
By implication, he was saying that a North American Pope would send the wrong message to the world.
The idea that the ideal pope might come from the Third World rather than one from the affluent West was also touched on yesterday by South African Cardinal Wilfred Napier, who said: "It would be great, of course, if it were somebody from the vibrant south."
For at least one other African cardinal, that developing world candidate might even come from Africa itself: "It's possible for an African pope to be chosen," said Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson in Accra shortly before he left for Rome.
Just to underline the difficult task confronting the cardinals, that opinion was almost immediately contradicted by Cardinal Bernard Agré of Ivory Coast,who commented yesterday: "Psychologically and spiritually the West isn't ready to welcome a black pope."