In Congo, supporters of Cardinal Ambongo hope he will become pope

Viewers in the Democratic Republic of Congo gathered around their TV in Kinshasa to cheer for the possibility of an African pope.

Patience Mudinda and her family were watching television in their small living room as the television showed the beginning of the process of electing a new pope.

This modest Congolese Catholic family has only one name in mind: their compatriot, 65-year-old Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu.

Everyone here wants Cardinal Ambongo to be the future pope.

Mudinda says she will be "overwhelmed with joy" if Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo is elected.

Meanwhile, Mudinda's son concentrates on watching the news on television.

In Kinshasa, those close to Cardinal Ambongo are more measured in their comments on this Vatican election, hoping that the religious spirit will prevail over all other considerations in the choice of the future Pope, said Abbot Marcel Ndjondjo, a close colleague of the cardinal Ambongo.