c. 2005 Religion News Service

VATICAN CITY _ Wanted: Catholic baptized male, preferably age 65-75. Position: Supreme pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. Qualifications: Theologically orthodox, media-savvy, willing to travel, familiarity with Scripture and doctrine a must.

Benefits: Free housing in the heart of Rome, ’round-the-clock security, 24-hour access to the Almighty, infallibility in faith and morals. Adoration of millions a plus.

Interested cardinals must report to the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican no later than 4:30 p.m. Monday, April 18. References from the Holy Spirit preferred, although not required.

As 115 cardinals from all corners of the globe prepare for the opening of next week’s conclave to elect history’s 265th pope, they are sizing each other up, and in many cases meeting each other for the first time. Each conversation is a job interview of sorts as the “princes of the church” decide who might get their vote for the most talked-about job in 2005.

But as each cardinal makes his case _ or, more likely, the case for someone else _ for what he wants in the next pope, they are forming a job description for the leader of the world’s 1.1 billion Catholics. Here’s a look at what the next pope, like any pope, will do on a day-to-day basis:

_ Bishop of Rome: The pope derives his authority first and foremost as a bishop. The man who is elected pope is the bishop of Rome before all things. Catholic tradition holds that Rome was the execution site of St. Peter, the first pope, to whom Jesus said, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I shall build my kingdom.”

As bishop of Rome, the pope oversees the pastoral needs of the city’s Catholics, although day-to-day affairs are handed to a high-ranking cardinal. St. Peter’s Basilica is where the pope conducts most ceremonies, but his cathedral _ the mother church of the diocese of Rome _ is St. John Lateran Basilica.

More importantly, the pope is the top bishop in the church, with authority to discipline and teach other bishops. He is not, in other words, some kind of presiding officer or the first among equals.

“Since example is the most effective way of teaching, his pastoral ministry as bishop of Rome is the most effective way that he can teach his brother bishops how to be good bishops,” said the Rev. Richard McBrien at the University of Notre Dame, “and to teach the rest of the church how to be church in the best and fullest sense of the word.”

_ Vicar of Christ: The pope is not merely regarded as the most important of the world’s 4,700 Catholic bishops _ he is the vicar of Christ, his representative on Earth. That is why the late Pope John Paul II refused to resign despite his ailing health. In his mind, God’s representative on Earth cannot simply step aside when he gets tired or too weak to continue.

The symbol for the pope has traditionally been a set of keys, after Jesus granted St. Peter “the keys to the kingdom.” The Rev. David O’Connell, president of Catholic University in Washington, D.C., said the image fits.

“He’s the one who substitutes for Christ,” O’Connell said. “He’s the keeper of the keys.”

_ Head of State: The pope also has temporal responsibilities as leader of the Vatican city-state, the smallest sovereign state in the world, at just 108 acres. Some 3,400 lay people work for the Vatican, and 1,000 people live there full-time, mostly clergy.

The Vatican has full diplomatic relations with most countries, including the United States since 1984, and has permanent observer status at the United Nations. The Vatican has been protected by the Swiss Guards since 1506, and the Vatican secretary of state is the No. 2 official in the church.

Day-to-day affairs are run by a governor of Vatican City, currently American Cardinal Edmund Szoka. Up until the birth of modern Italy in 1870, the pope controlled a broad swath of central Italy known as the papal states. Italy and the Vatican cemented the current arrangement of Vatican City in 1929.

“It’s pretty typical of an administrator,” said Michael Fahey, professor of theology at Marquette University in Milwaukee. “It’s not all that different from what a president or king or queen would do.”

_ Pontifex Maximus: The pope is the supreme pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. He has final say in all matters of faith and morals, discipline and government of the church. In 1870, the First Vatican Council said the pope is infallible in matters of faith and morals. While he may make mistakes in algebra, the church teaches that the Holy Spirit will never allow the pope, when teaching the wider church, to proclaim a heresy.

As supreme pontiff, the pope has the right to appoint bishops, archbishops and cardinals. He can silence dissident theologians and issue encyclicals to emphasize a certain aspect of faith, or sometimes politics.

In many ways, the pope is a type of spiritual CEO, responsible for ensuring that the church functions properly. Much of those duties are handled by the Curia, the centralized bureaucracy, but the pope sets the tone for what issues the church tackles and how decisions are made.

One of the chief criticisms of Pope John Paul II was that he centralized too much power, giving the Curia free rein over the detailed affairs of local churches. Reformers want a new pope to provide more leeway _ “collegiality” in church terms _ to local bishops.

“His important role is to foster coherence and unity among believers in the world,” said retired Archbishop John Quinn of San Francisco, an advocate of decentralization. “In other words, to keep everything together. But not by being a micromanager.”

_ Spiritual and Moral Leader: Perhaps John Paul’s greatest achievement was his forceful moral voice on global issues, from human rights to care for the poor to his strong stance against communism and oppression.

Many church observers say John Paul forever transformed the papacy from a strictly Catholic office into a global voice of conscience, calling the powerful to account and providing a voice for the persecuted and powerless. John Paul’s record-setting travel schedule brought the papacy out of the Vatican and into the world, a precedent that his successors will likely be forced to uphold.

“He turned attention away from issues as political issues, or even as Catholic issues, to try to address them on a fundamental philosophical level,” O’Connell said. “Part and parcel of (the next pope’s) responsibility as a global pastor or universal shepherd would indeed be to serve the world, both Christian and non-Christian.”

MO/PH END ECKSTROM