An Irish-American Cardinal has been put in the frame to become the next Pope. Cardinal Sean O'Malley from Boston is favoured by experts surveyed by the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera.

The Irish-American became the first Cardinal in 2006 to reach out to people with his own internet blog and offers a regular podcast.

The 68-year-old is regarded as a calm leader who steered the diocese through the aftermath of a scandal which led to a global crisis for the Catholic Church.

'Zero tolerance' on pedophile priests

O'Malley took over the diocese in 2003 and became one of the first to introduce a "zero tolerance" policy towards pedophile priests and is also regarded as representing a more modern face of the church.

O'Malley was born on June 29th 1944 in Lakewood, Ohio, and was educated in a Franciscan seminary before entering the Capuchin Franciscan order at the age of 21. There he changed his name from Patrick to Sean in reference to Saint John.

He was ordained 5 years later.

He has a doctorate in Spanish and Portuguese literature and founded the Spanish Catholic Centre in Washington DC. It is an organisation which helps immigrants to the United States.

Appointed bishop in 1984 he led dioceses in the Virgin Islands, Fall River in Massachusetts and Palm Beach, Florida before his nomination as Archbishop of Boston by Pope Jean Paul II.

Readers who took part in an online poll also placed him in joint first place alongside Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer of Brazil.