The company has made 70-year-old Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, the Archbishop of Milan, its firm favourite as next leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

Tettamanzi, at 5-2, is ahead of 74-year-old Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze, 3-1, and 68-year-old Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino of Cuba, 11-2.

Leading outsiders, according to the bookmakers, are Florence Archbishop Ennio Antonelli, Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras -- both 6-1 -- and Cardinals Joseph Ratzinger of Germany and Claudio Hummes of Brazil, both 8-1.

Another Italian Giacomo Biffi, the 76-year-old emeritus archbishop of Bologna, is a 10-1 shot for the papal title.

One of the youngest "papabile", 60-year-old Vienna Archbishop Christoph Schoenborn, is a 12-1 chance, along with Cardinal Angelo Scola, the Patriarch of Venice who is 63.

The pope's secretary of state Cardinal Angelo Sodano, responsible for the day-to-day running of the Church while the pope is incapacitated, is rated only a 16-1 shot for the papal title.

Another dark horse is Indian Cardinal Ivan Dias, the 68-year-old archbishop of Bombay, also on 16-1.

English Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor is a 20-1 punt, while Durban Archbishop Wilfried Napier of South Africa, 63, is rated at 33-1.