The head of one of the world's largest Roman Catholic archdiocese and thought to be a leading Latin American contender to succeed Pope Benedict XVI said neither nationality nor age should matter in picking the next pontiff.

The pope greeted the faithful in St Peter’s Basilica amid new security measures today following the Christmas Eve scare.

The pope arrived in Greece today for a personal pilgrimage with much wider implications: trying to heal nearly 1,000 years of discord between the Vatican and Orthodox churches.