Conflicting pressures on new pope The new pope will have to face the challenge of managing markedly diverse expectations from the developed and developing worlds, Australia's ambassador to the Holy See says. Speaking in his Rome office, ambassador John McCarthy said the issues that some wanted to be the agenda for the Catholic Church in Western countries - such as abortion, gay marriage and female priests - were "simply not accepted by the church elsewhere." This is leading to bewilderment among the Western elite, who can't understand why their agenda is not the agenda of the whole church. This is a serious problem for the Holy See," he said. He said leaders of the developing world believed Western Catholics had to shift to reconnect with the wider church and that the biggest issue facing the church was the "new evangelisation" - finding ways to reach lapsed or inactive Catholics. The 115 cardinal electors who will choose the next leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics were to move into a residence inside the Vatican on Tuesday. From his handsome office, the ambassador looks across the Tiber straight at St Peter's Basilica, the papal apartments and the roof of the Sistine Chapel, with its specially constructed chimney to puff out black smoke - until it turns white and there is a new pope. "If the foreign minister wants to know whether I'm at work, he only has to ask the pope to look out his window," Mr McCarthy joked. He has invited prelates, Curial officials, diplomats and journalists to "conclave watch" receptions from the fifth-floor embassy on both days, with BYOB meaning "bring your own binoculars." With rain forecast all week, Mr McCarthy's offices are likely to overflow. Thanks to the pope, Rome is one of the diplomatic capitals of the world. The Holy See has relations with 179 nations and hosts 83 resident ambassadors. The Australia ambassador acts as a conduit between the federal government and Holy See, but there is much more. Many nations can meet and talk there, and Mr McCarthy has been busy arguing for Syrian refugees, religious freedom, fighting the arms trade and slavery, and how the West deploys its aid. Mr McCarthy noted that Cardinal George Pell had minimised his prospects of being elected pope. He was also sceptical of claims that this conclave might elect a US cardinal.