VATICAN CITY, April 14: When 115 cardinals meet in the Sistine Chapel next Monday to elect a successor to Pope John Paul II, their eventual decision, which they believe is inspired by the Holy Spirit, will also be swayed by geographical, political and theological factors.

One volatile ingredient in this complicated cocktail is the church’s relationship with Islam.

Leading Italian religious historian Renzo Guolo told Adnkronos International (AKI) the cardinals were divided over how far to reach out to Islam, but that whoever was elected was unlikely to roll back the overtures of John Paul II.

“If a likely papal candidate has direct experience in dealing with the Islamic world it would be a plus but would not necessarily sway things in his favour,” said Guolo, a professor of Sociology of Religions at the University of Padova and Trieste.

John Paul II made significant and very public overtures towards other faiths, with the world inter-religious dialogue meetings in Assisi, where he prayed along side other leaders of the world’s religions.

He was also the first Pope ever to visit a mosque and frequently spoke out in support of Palestinian rights and against the US military intervention in Iraq.

Ruolo says the college of cardinals is essentially divided into two schools of thought about the Catholic church’s ties with Islam.

“One camp believes ties with other religions are vital to block the growth of secularisation, the new atheism.

The other fears that if the church moves too far towards other faiths this implies giving up on proclaiming its own truth and the evangelisation of the Muslim community, even here in Europe,” said Guolo.

“In the past there have been very heated discussions among cardinals when the Pope spoke about asking forgiveness from other religions.

For all but three of the 115 cardinals it will be the first conclave.—By arrangement with AKI