Pope Preparing to Name 2 Dozen New Cardinals : Religion: L.A.’s Mahony is a top U.S. contender. But an emphasis on East Europe, Third World is expected.

Pope John Paul II is preparing a major renewal of the College of Cardinals, but it will probably prove a skimpy harvest for American prelates awaiting entry into the cupola of the Roman Catholic Church.

Vatican sources say the Pope will name about two dozen new cardinals at his general audience next Wednesday to rejuvenate a College of Cardinals depleted by death and old age since his last consistory in 1988.

As a matter of mathematics and geography, however, Vatican specialists expect at most two new American cardinals--and perhaps only one. In his past consistories, the pontiff has resolutely increased the number of cardinals in the Third World. This time, he will be looking at reawakened Catholic churches in Eastern Europe as well.

The leading contenders among American archbishops, insiders say, are Roger M. Mahony of Los Angeles and Anthony J. Bevilacqua of Philadelphia. Mahony heads the largest archdiocese in the United States, but at 55 is still young to be a cardinal. Bevilacqua will be 68 next month, but retired Cardinal John Krol, 80, is still a major figure in Philadelphia.

The Vatican sources say John Paul will respect a 1975 Apostolic Constitution written by Pope Paul VI which limits the College of Cardinals to 120 electors. Cardinals normally retire at 75 but are eligible to vote until their 80th birthday.

Of the new cardinals, 20 will be under age 80. A handful of over-80s will get their red hats as a gesture of papal esteem, the sources say.

On Thursday, German Cardinal Paul Augustin Mayer turned 80, reducing the College to 100 eligible electors. There are now 40 cardinals over age 80 and one referred to as in pectore-- known only to the Pope, because he lives in a country where religion has been suppressed.

The choice of new cardinals is the pontiff’s alone. Vatican analysts, however, expect that his new appointments will focus on bishops who combine his own allegiance to traditional church teachings with pastoral and social activism.

Shoo-in candidates as new cardinals include three Italian archbishops who are veterans of the Vatican Curia: Angelo Sodano, the Vatican secretary of state; Camillo Ruini, the vicar of Rome; and Pio Laghi, a former papal nuncio in Washington who now heads the Vatican congregation on Catholic education. Observers say another Curia archbishop or two may also get red hats.

Major European archdioceses now without elector cardinals include Turin, Berlin, Barcelona and Armagh, the titular residence of Ireland’s primate.

In addition, there are nominal cardinal vacancies in Toronto, Montreal and Quebec--although the notion of three new Canadian cardinals is a long shot--as well as in Buenos Aires, Santiago, Lima and Santo Domingo, where the archbishop-primate of the Dominican Republic is also the newly elected head of the Latin American Bishops’ Conference.

Observers say the Pope is certain to name a new cardinal for Czechoslovakia, and perhaps one in the Soviet Union and Romania. A number of Asian appointments are possible, and African vacancies exist in Kinshasa, Zaire, and Kampala, Uganda.

In his four previous consistories, John Paul has named cardinals in cities that never had one, particularly in Asia and Africa, and may do so again this time.

Often called “princes of the church” by Catholics, cardinals are a Pope’s principal advisers. They administer the Vatican Curia and large archdioceses around the world. Among the 850 million Catholics, cardinals under 80 are the select 120 who will one day choose one of their number to become John Paul’s successor.

Reflecting church growth in Asia and Africa and religious rebirth in Eastern Europe, the new appointments will swing the majority in the College of Cardinals away from Europe for the first time.

During his reign of almost 13 years, John Paul has named the overwhelming majority of the cardinals who will elect the next Pope.

Of the known cardinals, there are 73 Europeans, 32 of them Italians. There are 16 Africans and 13 Asians, both numbers up sharply under John Paul, and 22 Latin Americans. There are eight American cardinals, five from Canada and three from Oceania.

When Vatican sources early this year indicated that Archbishop Mahony of Los Angeles headed a short list of Americans to be elevated as cardinals, Mahony himself expressed doubt to aides because of his relatively young age.

Mahony felt that tradition would call for Archbishops Bevilacqua, John L. May of St. Louis and Adam J. Maida of Detroit to be named ahead of him because they are older; all are in their 60s.

Mahony, whose archdiocese numbers 3.4 million parishioners, is likely to receive a red hat eventually, just as his predecessors did--Cardinals James McIntyre and Timothy Manning.

Times staff writers John Dart and Karen Robinson in Los Angeles contributed to this story.