Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn strives for a low profile as leader of Austria's Roman Catholics, but it has not always been easy. He owes a key promotion 10 years ago to a pedophile scandal involving his predecessor, and last year he had to confront a child pornography scandal in a rural diocese.
Schoenborn is multilingual -- fluent in French and Italian, proficient in English and Spanish -- and has friends in the Vatican. He's a scholar, comfortable in the pulpit and is respected by Jews, Muslims and Orthodox Christians. He will not comment publicly on his position as one of the favorites to succeed Pope John Paul II; friends say he would serve if chosen but not eagerly.
His age could work against him -- at 60, he is among the youngest of the major contenders.
Schoenborn's quiet management style has been focused on steering the Austrian Church around controversy. The austere, soft-spoken cardinal made his own climb to higher echelons of the Church hierarchy in the wake of the scandal involving his predecessor, Hans Groer, who was accused of abusing young boys.
Appointed Vienna's archbishop in 1995 to replace Groer, Schoenborn initially stayed silent. But he showed courage three years later, apologizing "for everything that my predecessors and other holders of Church office committed against people in their trust."
