The headline of this morning's National Post is: Vigils Begin and End. The one for Terri ended yesterday, after 13 days without food or water. And then last night, it was reported that the Pope was gravely ill. This morning he is reported to be near death. And so a newer, bigger vigil begins.

On Wednesday, I said to Mr. Right that I thought the Pope might die on the same day as Terri Schiavo, and that his news would eclipse hers, the way Princess Diana eclipsed Mother Theresa. I wasn't far off. The world is going to lose a great man - probably today or tomorrow - and the Catholic faith is going to lose a leader who has rebuilt a flock in places where the collective mind was dead set against religion of any kind. Places like the former Soviet Union. And places like North America, where it still seems to be okay to be any religion except Christian; except Catholic. People have reacted more openly and warmly to the Catholic faith, despite its scandals, because its leader is such an amiable fellow. The Dalai Lama of Christianity, if you will.

Is there anyone who can fill those shoes one he is gone? So much time is devoted to politics that we know who the likely candidates are for an election that is more than three years away. But does anyone know who the potentials are to be Pope?

Key cardinals

Giovanni Battista Re, a 67-year-old Italian, is prefect of the Congregation of Bishops, which enables him to advise the pope on episcopal appointments around the world. After a successful career as a Vatican diplomat, with posts in Panama and Iran, he became deputy to the Secretary of State, giving him a key role as the pope's chief of staff. Described as a workaholic, he is regarded as papabile - a possible pope.

Francois Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan was born in Hue, Vietnam, and was imprisoned by the Communist regime for 13 years, nine of them in solitary confinement. He is now president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

Claudio Hummes, 66, is Archbishop of Sao Paulo in Brazil. He is seen as a moderate, and has spoken out on human rights issues.

The Polish-born Zenon Grocholewski has a top Vatican job as prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education.

New cardinals from the United States include the Archbishop of New York, Edward Egan, and the Archbishop of Washington DC, Theodore McCarrick.

There is also a red hat for Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the Archbishop of Westminster, and spiritual leader of the four million Catholics in England and Wales.

Also included is Karl Lehmann, the liberal-minded head of the German Bishops' Conference. He has been named as a cardinal despite concern at the Vatican over the involvement of the church in Germany in abortion counselling.
He caused consternation last year by suggesting that the pope would be prepared to resign if he became too ill to carry out his duties.

This gives us some idea who the players are, but few people understand the game, or its ramifications. Not only does the Pope have to make important ecumenical decisions on a daily basis, but he's got to be PR savvy, too. If he can't hold the interest of the 1.1 billion Catholics around the world, they will drift away from the Church.

It will be an enormous job to out-do Pope John Paul II in terms of people-skills.

Correction: The headline Vigils Begin and End was on the cover of the National Post, not the Globe and Mail, and I have made the adjustment above. RG