Pope Benedict XVI waves from a balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican after being elected by the conclave of cardinals April 19, 2005 /REUTERS

Even before he utters his first words in public, the new pope who emerges from the conclave this week will send Roman Catholics around the world a message encoded in the name he chooses.

(Journalists visit the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican March 9, 2013.REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini)

The conclave to pick a Roman Catholic pope is the dramatic final stage of a secretive election process that quietly began weeks, months or even years ago.

(A cardinal holds his cap as he arrives at the Synod Hall at the Vatican March 8, 2013.REUTERS/Max Rossi)

There are no official candidates in the election for pope, which will begin when 115 cardinal electors file into the Sistine Chapel for their conclave on Tuesday.

(Pope Benedict XVI leaves at the end of the Vespers mass to celebrate the feast of Saint Peters and Paul in the Saint Paul Outside the Walls basilica in Rome June 28, 2010. REUTERS/Tony Gentile)

Joseph Ratzinger never hid the fact he thought the Roman Catholic papacy was too big for one man.