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.

CNN: Why next pope must open up church and usher in Vatican III

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.

BBC: Flashback: 1964 papal visit

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.

ECONOMIST: The Roman Catholic church

In that sense, admirers of Escriva, who included Pope John Paul II, believe the Spanish saint anticipated the "universal call to holiness" that would be announced by the Second Vatican Council.

NPR: A Glimpse Inside a Catholic 'Force': Opus Dei