Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer

All 115 cardinals will gather in the Vatican for the papal conclave this week and the list of possible candidates is long. Though any one of them could be the next pope, Vatican experts have identified a few potential favorites.

The Archbishop of Sao Paolo, the largest Catholic diocese in the world, Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer is a front-runner for those in favor of a Latin American pope. Of German heritage and with several years of Vatican experience, Scherer, 63, is seen as a good mix between the old world and new; someone whom Europeans, Latin Americans, and Curia Cardinals might agree on. Seen as a traditionalist, Cardinal Scherer has nonetheless championed the cause of the Amazon forest and environmental issues in Brazil as well as the social concerns of liberation theology.

In this photograph, Cardinal Scherer speaks during a press conference at Se Cathedral in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Feb. 13, 2013.

Cardinal Scherer (R) greets Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes, both considered in the running to be the future pope, during the Ash Wednesday Mass at Se Cathedral in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Feb. 13, 2013.

Newly appointed Cardinals (L to R), Senegal's Theodore Adrien Sarr, Mexico's Francisco Robles Ortega and Brazilian Odillo Pedro Scherer attend Pope Benedict XVI Mass of the Rings in St Peter's Basilica, Nov. 25, 2007.

Cardinal Scherer gives a Thanksgiving Mass for Pope Benedict XVI at the Cathedral in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Feb. 22, 2013.

Newly appointed Cardinal Scherer receives his red hat symbolizing the blood of the martyrs from Pope Benedict XVI on St Peter square in the Vatican, Nov. 24, 2007.

Cardinal Scherer speaks during a press conference at Se Cathedral in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Feb. 13, 2013.

Mathilde Ludwig holds a picture of Cardinal Scherer in front of her guest house 'Casa do Brazil' in Theley, Germany, March 4, 2013. Scherer's ancestors came from the village Theley and he feels connected to it. The 63-year-old speaks an old Saarland dialect, has friends in the village and has already visited several times.

Cardinal Scherer speaks during a press conference at Se Cathedral in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Feb. 13, 2013.

Cardinal Scherer (2nd R) and Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes (2nd L) celebrate the Ash Wednesday mass at Se Cathedral in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Feb. 13, 2013.