The marble halls of the Vatican are fairly buzzing with intrigue. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Church's chief diplomat, has emerged as the man to beat in Catholicism's ultimate power contest – the race to claim the Chair of St Peter.
Bookmakers have now installed Parolin as one of four frontrunners to don the white cassock when the time eventually comes, a development being watched with keen interest by Catholics worldwide and Vatican-watchers of every stripe.
