Prominent cardinal hopes for quick Papal Election, sparks speculation over support for Cardinal Pietro Parolin

“I hope that when I return to Rome this evening, I'll find the white smoke already rising,” he said, speaking from the city of Pompei on Thursday.

Vatican City: Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals, expressed hope that a new pope would be elected within hours, according to reports in major Italian newspapers.

“I hope that when I return to Rome this evening, I’ll find the white smoke already rising,” he said, speaking from the city of Pompei on Thursday.

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Re is 91 years old, which makes him too old to participate in the conclave of 133 cardinals who are electing the next pope and who all have to be under 80.

However, he has been prominent and delivered a Mass on Wednesday before the cardinals began their conclave.

As the Mass ended, he was caught on a hot mic saying to Cardinal Pietro Parolin, viewed as a favourite for the papacy: “auguri doppi” (“double best wishes”).

Italians discussed whether this was a customary gesture acknowledging Parolin’s role as the most senior cardinal present in the conclave, or if it might have been an informal endorsement of Parolin’s candidacy for the papacy.