In 1963, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini was chosen to succeed the late Pope John XXIII as head of the Roman Catholic Church.

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Many will pray that the new pope is more in the mould of Pope John XXIII, who ushered in the Second Vatican Council that sat for much of the 1960s.

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Two years had elapsed since the Second Vatican Council convened by Pope John XXIII in 1962, which set out to dismantle the charge that Jews were responsible for killing Jesus.

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Besides, by no means all priests were on the political right: many, encouraged by Pope John XXIII, distanced themselves from Franco in the 1960s, and helped nudge Spain towards democracy after his death.

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The first step towards "normalisation" with Israel was the Second Vatican Council convened by Pope John XXIII in 1962, which set out to dismantle this charge, which had been a clarion call for anti-Semitism down the ages.

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If that happens, and it is far from certain, it could help fulfil the promise of universality made in the early 1960s at the Second Vatican Council, but which Pope John XXIII did not live to nurse to maturity.

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Specifically, I very much hope that Pope Francis will lead the church in the manner of Pope John the XXIII, and encourage a degree of redistributive justice, concern for the poor, and the compassion that the Catholic church has traditionally been known for.

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There were three rival claimants to the papal throne at that time - the Roman Pope Gregory XII, the Avignon Pope Benedict XIII, and the Antipope John XXIII.

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Some hoped that the new pope would be a progressive figure, perhaps like John XXIII, who surprised many by convening the liberalising Vatican II council in the 1960s.

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