BENEDICT XVI: NEWS, PAPAL TEXTS, PHOTOS AND COMMENTARY

Cardinals head to conclave
to elect a new Pope
By Crispian Balmer and Philip Pullella


VATICAN CITY, March 12,2013 (Reuters) - Roman Catholic cardinals prayed on Tuesday for divine help in choosing a new Pope, hours before they go into a conclave to elect a Pontiff who will face one of the most difficult periods in the Church's history.

The red-hatted cardinals filed into St. Peter's Basilica as choirs sang at a solemn Mass that traditionally precedes the secret conclave, which could last for several days.

Italian Angelo Sodano, dean of the cardinals, called for unity in the Church, which has been riven with intrigue and scandal, and urged everyone to work with the next Pope.

"My brothers, let us pray that the Lord will grant us a pontiff who will embrace this noble mission with a generous heart," Sodano said in his homily, receiving warm applause when he thanked "the beloved and venerable" Benedict XVI. ['Warm applause' is an understatement, and obviously, the applause was not for Sodano but for Benedict XVI.]

Pope Benedict abdicated last month, saying he was not strong enough at 85 to confront the woes of a Church whose 1.2 billion members look to Rome for leadership. He has secluded himself from public life and was not present at Tuesday's service.

The Mass was the last event for the cardinals before they enter the Sistine Chapel and start their balloting for the next Pontiff underneath the gaze of the divine presence represented through Michelangelo's famous fresco of the Last Judgment.

Only the 115 "princes of the Church" who are aged under 80 will take part in the vote, which is steeped in ritual. A two-thirds majority is needed to elect the new Pope.

No clear favourite has emerged to take the helm of the Church, with some prelates calling for a strong manager to control the much criticised Vatican bureaucracy, while others want a powerful pastor to combat growing secularism.

Italy's Angelo Scola and Brazil's Odilo Scherer are spoken of as possible frontrunners. The former would return the papacy to Italy after 35 years in the hands of Poland's John Paul II and the German Benedict; the latter would be the first non-European Pope since Syrian-born Gregory III in the 8th century.

However, a host of other candidates from numerous nations have also been mentioned as "papabili" - potential popes - including U.S. cardinals Timothy Dolan and Sean O'Malley, Canada's Marc Ouellet and Argentina's Leonardo Sandri.

The cardinals will only emerge from their seclusion once they have chosen the 266th pontiff in the 2,000-year history of the Church, which is beset by sex abuse scandals, bureaucratic infighting, financial difficulties and the rise of secularism.

Many Catholics are looking to see positive changes.

[A reminder to everyone, including the media, as Benedict XVI did more than once" Mother Teresa said it best when asked what should change in the Church above all, and she answered "You and I". Enough sanctimony already!]

"He must be a great pastor with a big heart, and also have the capacity to confront the Church's problems, which are very great," said Maria Dasdores Paz, a Brazilian nun who attended the Mass in Rome. "Every day there seem to be more."

In the past month, Britain's only cardinal elector excused himself from the conclave and apologised for sexual misconduct.

Mexican Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera told Italy's La Stampa newspaper there were differing views about who should be the next pontiff, with some wanting an academic, others seeking someone close to the people, and others a good manager.

Asked if the conclave could therefore drag on, he said: "I do not think it will be long ... we will come to an agreement very quickly".

The average length of the last nine conclaves was just over three days and none went on for more than five.

Signalling the divisions among Catholic ranks, Italian newspapers reported on Tuesday an open clash between prelates in a pre-conclave meeting on Monday.

The newspapers said the Vatican hierarchy's number two under Benedict, Tarcisio Bertone, had accused Brazil's Joao Braz de Aviz of leaking critical comments to the media. [No matter how much I reproach Bertone for his failure to support Benedict XVI in the only way that mattered - good administration of the Vatican - can we really imagine him speaking to the General Congregation to confront a fellow cardinal openly? This sound slike typical Italian media gossip!]

Aviz retorted to loud applause that the leaks were coming from the Curia -- the Vatican's central administration which has been criticised for failing to prevent a string of mishaps during Benedict's troubled, eight-year reign. [Aviz is a Curial head himself, so he cannot possibly have accused 'the Curia', generic, of the leaks!]

All the prelates in the Sistine Chapel were appointed by either Benedict XVI or John Paul II, and the next pontiff will almost certainly pursue their fierce defence of traditional moral teachings.

But Benedict and John Paul were criticised for failing to reform the Curia, and some churchmen believe the next Pope must be a good chief executive or at least put a robust management team in place under him. [Finally, someone is not laying the entire 'mess' in the Curia on Benedict alone. I stil maintain that it is more accurate to say that any bureaucratic messes in the Curia in the past eight years were mostly in the Secretariat of State and its dependency IOR.]

Vatican insiders say Scola, who has managed two big Italian dioceses, might be best placed to understand the Byzantine politics of the Vatican administration - of which he has not been a part - and be able to introduce swift reform.

The still influential Curia is said by the same insiders to back Scherer, who worked in the Vatican's Congregation for Bishops for seven years before later leading Brazil's Sao Paolo diocese - the largest in a country with the biggest national Catholic community.

With only 24 percent of Catholics living in Europe, pressure is growing to choose a pontiff from elsewhere in the world who would bring a different perspective.

Latin American cardinals might worry more about poverty and the rise of evangelical churches than questions of materialism and sexual abuse that dominate in the West, while the growth of Islam is a major concern for the Church in Africa and Asia.

The cardinals are expected to hold their first vote late on Tuesday afternoon - which is almost certain to be inconclusive - before retiring to a Vatican guesthouse for the night.

They hold four ballots a day from Wednesday until one man has won a two-thirds majority - or 77 votes. Black smoke from a makeshift chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel will signify no one has been elected, while white smoke and the pealing of the bells of St. Peter's Basilica will announce the arrival of a new pontiff.

As in mediaeval times, the cardinals will be banned from communicating with the outside world. The Vatican has taken high-tech measures to ensure secrecy in the 21st century, including electronic jamming devices to prevent eavesdropping.

Ahead of papal Conclave,
a call for Church unity
By DANIEL J. WAKIN


VATICAN CITY — Cardinal Angelo Sodano, celebrating the Mass on Tuesday preceding the conclave to elect the next pope, issued an appeal for unity in the Roman Catholic Church, which has been damaged by Vatican corruption and clerical sexual abuse scandals.

As dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Sodano delivered his homily hours before the prelates were to enter the Sistine Chapel for the conclave to choose a successor to Benedict XVI. It was the last major public statement by a Vatican prelate before the church’s next supreme Pontiff emerges.

“St. Paul teaches that each of us must work to build up the unity of the church,” Cardinal Sodano said. “All of us are therefore called to cooperate with the pastors, in particular with the successor of Peter, to obtain that unity of the holy church.”

He also dwelled on the church’s charitable and evangelizing mission and prayed for the future pope to continue to promote peace and justice around the world.

The cardinal, who for nearly 20 years has been one of the most influential figures in the Vatican and served John Paul II and Benedict XVI as secretary of state, made several mentions of those two popes.

He referred to the “luminous pontificate” of the “beloved and venerated Pontiff Benedict XVI, to whom in this moment we renew our profound gratitude,” drawing long applause from the worshipers. A number of the cardinals, but not all, clapped their hands modestly. [Thank you for confirming my impression watching the Mass on TV - I loved the spontaneous applause that erupted from the congregation but I was sickened by the general indifference and perfunctoriness of those cardinals who did clap but, it seemd obvious, only because it was expected of them. I still do not understand their apparent eagerness just to forget Benedict and get on with what they have to do. Showing appreciation for Benedict does not exclude going forward!]

The cardinals have appeared divided over whether the next pope should be an outsider who would reform the Italian-dominated Curia, or Vatican bureaucracy; an internal choice who could bring change from within; or a galvanizing leader who can shore up the church in the face of growing secularism and inroads by Protestant evangelicals.

The decision by Benedict to resign — he is the first pontiff to step down in nearly 600 years — has also caused differences in the cardinals’ ranks.

The homily, closely grounded in Gospel readings, was markedly different from the last such speech, which was given by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger ahead of the 2005 conclave that made him Pope Benedict XVI.

At the time, Cardinal Ratzginer delivered a sharp warning against departing from fundamental Catholic teaching, denouncing what he called a “dictatorship of relativism” that leaves “only one’s ego and desires” as the ultimate measure.

Cardinal Ratzinger’s showing going into the 2005 conclave was considered a factor in his election as Pope. Cardinal Sodano will not take part in this conclave. He is over the age limit of 80.

At the outset of the Mass, the princes of the church moved slowly down the central aisle of St. Peter’s Basilica in pairs, wearing crimson robes and white miters as Gregorian chant echoed through the cavernous baroque space. They held their hands clasped in front, approached the altar, bent in reverence and parted ways to take their places. Readings took place in English, French, German, Malayalam, Portuguese, Spanish and Swahili.

The cardinals were scheduled at 4:30 p.m. to hold their procession into the Sistine Chapel, where they will swear an oath of secrecy and obedience to the constitution on papal transition. After the words “extra omnes” — everyone out — the princes of the church will get down to business. They will write the name of their candidate on rectangular pieces of paper and tip them into a flying-saucer shaped urn. [???? It's supposed to be a large chalice!]

Unlike previous recent conclaves, where powerful figures like Cardinal Ratzinger loomed large, this conclave seems wide open, with a scattered field of “papabili,” or pope-ables.

Only one round of balloting is provided for on the first day of a conclave, although Vatican officials explained that a vote is not guaranteed — the cardinals can decide not to — but likely. One thing is very predictable: that no one of the 115 cardinals present will receive 77 votes, or the required two-thirds, to become pope on that first ballot.

Candidates will build up blocks of votes over succeeding rounds. Two are scheduled in the morning and two in the afternoon each successive day.

The ballots and notes will be burned in a special oven set up in the Sistine Chapel, with chemicals added to produce black or white smoke. White means the world has a pope, black that no result is reached. Black smoke on Tuesday is expected to arrive toward the evening. A result is expected by the end of the week.

The process was set in motion on Feb. 11 when Benedict announced he would resign, unprecedented in modern times. A helicopter lifted him away from the Vatican on Feb. 28 and took him to the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo, outside of Rome, where he is to remain in seclusion for several months until returning to a convent in the Vatican.

The Vatican has said none of the cardinals, who had been meeting daily to discuss the needs of the church and the expectations of a future pope, had sought him out.

Benedict’s longtime personal secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, was expected to attend the Mass on Tuesday in his role as prefect of the papal household, said the Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman. Benedict named Archbishop Gänswein as prefect several months before announcing his resignation.