Could A Former Boston Cardinal Be The Next Pope?

BOSTON, MA — Former Boston Cardinal Seán Patrick O'Malley — who served as a head adviser to late Pope Francis on a commission for the protection of minors in the wake of the worldwide clergy sexual abuse scandal — could have the best chance of any American-born cardinal to become the next leader of the Catholic Church, according to church scholars and media reports.

Church observers said that, while O'Malley is not the favorite, he is a potential candidate given his status at the Vatican after retiring as the leader of the Boston Archdiocese after 20 years.

• 'A Guiding Light': MA Catholics, Officials Pay Tribute To Memory, Legacy Of Pope Francis

The death of a pope starts a centuries-old ritual involving sacred oaths by the cardinals electing a successor, the piercing of ballots with a needle and thread after they're counted, and then burning them to produce either the white or black smoke to signal if there.s a new leader for the world's 1.3 billion Catholics, according to the Associated Press.

Francis' body is lying in state at the Vatican in advance of his funeral planned for early Saturday morning (Eastern Daylight Time). Francis has chosen to be buried in St. Mary Major Basilica, where his favorite icon of the Virgin Mary, the Salus Populi Romani, is located.

The AP said cardinals will arrive in Rome for the conclave during the nine days of official mourning following the funeral, with the conclave to begin within about two weeks thereafter.

Any baptized Roman Catholic male is eligible to become pope, but only cardinals have been selected over the last nine centuries.

Other top candidates, according to the AP, are Cardinal Pietro Parolin of Italy, Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Canada, Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn of Austria, Cardinal Luis Tagle of the Philippines, and Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Italy.

O'Malley was appointed by St. John Paul II in 2003, replacing then-Archbishop Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned amid the clergy sexual abuse scandal in Boston — the fourth-largest archdiocese in the United States.

While O'Malley and Pope Francis were among the first to acknowledge the abuse and pledged to take steps to reform the church to increase transparency around allegations and prevent further cases of abuse, victims' rights groups criticized the church leaders for failing to follow up their public proclamations with the meaningful actions necessary to enact reforms.

The soon-to-be-81-year-old O'Malley was born June 29, 1944, in Lakewood, Ohio, and grew up in Western Pennsylvania.

Associated Press material was used in this story.