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Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline of France cooed at babies on Sunday at a church in the Monti neighborhood of Rome. Cardinal Peter Erdo of Hungary asked for prayers for fellow cardinals at a church near the Colosseum. Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo of Congo joined priests from across the globe behind the altar of a church in western Rome.<\/p>\n
The three cardinals \u2014 considered contenders, though not favorites, to become the next pope \u2014 were among those celebrating Mass across Rome on Sunday, making among their final public appearances before the conclave to elect a new pope begins on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Campaign rallies they were not. But in the homilies that the cardinals delivered, and in their interactions with the faithful, they offered hints at the messages they might be giving to other cardinals, and to what kind of pope they might want, or want to be.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
All cardinals are assigned what is known as a titular church in Rome; when they are in town, they can choose to celebrate Mass there. Some, like Cardinal Aveline<\/a> and Cardinal Luis Tagle<\/a> of the Philippines, a leading papal contender, had already done so last week. Cardinal Tagle drew hundreds of Filipino faithful to his titular church in the gritty Centocelle suburb on Thursday. A smattering of lesser-known cardinals also fanned out across the city on Sunday, giving eager Vatican watchers a chance to snap photos of Their Eminences all over town.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n But the two Italian favorites, Cardinals Pietro Parolin<\/a> and Pierbattista Pizzaballa, did not take to the pulpit on Sunday, acting like front-runners in a political campaign who chose to remain silent rather than, perhaps, make a mistake and lose electoral ground.<\/p>\n A few curious Catholics \u2014 and news reporters scrutinizing cardinals\u2019 every move \u2014 showed up to Cardinal Pizzaballa\u2019s titular church anyway, hoping to catch a glimpse of a potential new pontiff.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll understand if you desire to go,\u201d the priest at the church of Sant\u2019Onofrio al Gianicolo, on a hill overlooking Rome, told about a dozen parishioners. \u201cCardinal Pizzaballa will not be here today or tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n The parishioners stayed. The half-dozen reporters milling around took off, contenting themselves with chatting with Francesco Ziaco, a 63-year-old banker who had come to see Cardinal Pizzaballa \u2014 and who happened to also look a lot like him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n (A reporter from RAI, the Italian broadcaster, asked Mr. Ziaco if he was the cardinal, going clandestine in civilian clothes. Though he was not, he acknowledged, \u201cThe first time I saw his picture, I thought, \u2018This guy looks like me.\u2019\u201d)<\/p>\n The cardinals who did celebrate Mass were met with enthusiastic support.<\/p>\n