The next pope
When will we know?
March 5, 2013 -- Updated 1634 GMT (0034 HKT)
Cardinals make their way to Rome
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: "This is the most important decision that some of us will ever make," says U.S. cardinal
- Not all cardinal-electors have to be present for the conclave date to be set
- 110 of the 115 cardinal-electors have now arrived in Rome, says Vatican spokesman
- The Sistine Chapel closes to the public for preparations ahead of the conclave
A total of 110 out of the
115 cardinal-electors, those younger than 80 who are eligible to elect
the pope, are now in Rome, Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi
said Tuesday.
The five
cardinal-electors who have not yet arrived have been in touch with the
College of Cardinals, and the Vatican knows when they are coming, he
said. He did not say when that would be, however, or give reasons for
their delayed arrival.
No date has yet been proposed for the conclave to select Pope Benedict XVI's successor, said Lombardi.
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It is not necessary for
all the cardinal-electors to be present for the conclave date to be set,
he said, but they do have to be given time to get there.
Another Vatican
spokesman, the Rev. Thomas Rosica, said: "There is no desire to rush
things but to take this time for discernment and reflection, and that's
been evident in the meetings thus far."
The famous Sistine
Chapel, where the secretive conclave takes place, was closed to the
public at lunchtime Tuesday for preparations and will remain so until
further notice, the official Vatican Museums website said.
Those cardinals already
in Rome met twice Monday, in the morning and in the evening, as they
began a series of meetings known as general congregations.
The group decided that congregations on Tuesday and Wednesday would take place in the morning only.
The general congregations are a key step before the conclave.
Cardinals who want to
speak in the meetings sign up to do so, and can speak for as long as
they want on any topic they want, Lombardi said.
So far, 33 cardinals have spoken. There are 148 in the congregations as of Tuesday morning, he said.
According to Italian
media reports, discussions Monday focused on an internal investigation
into leaks from the Vatican, the outcome of which has so far been seen
only by Benedict, and the church's handling of the scandal over child
sex abuse by priests.
The cardinals also talked about the kind of pope they want to see at the head of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics.
'As long as it takes'
U.S. Cardinals Sean
O'Malley of Boston and Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, speaking to
reporters after Tuesday's congregation, said the cardinals were in no
hurry to set a date for the conclave.
"I think this is the
most important decision that some of us will ever make, and we need to
give it the time that's necessary," O'Malley said. "We want to have
enough time in the general congregations so that when we go into the
conclave, it's a time of decision. This is a time of discernment and
prayer and reflections."
"It takes as long as it
takes," DiNardo said, adding that there were "plenty of points of view
among the cardinals" about when the conclave should begin.
"No one really wants to rush this if it can't be rushed," he said.
Both laughed off
speculation that they could be elected pope, although some betting
agencies rate O'Malley as the most likely American to become pope.
O'Malley was asked if he would continue to wear his brown Capuchin robe if he did become pontiff.
"I have worn this
uniform for 40 years and I expect to wear it until I die, and that's
because I don't expect to be elected pope," he said.
DiNardo, who lives in
Texas, was then asked if he would keep wearing a cowboy hat if he became
pope. "That's an 'Alice in Wonderland' question. We're going down the
rabbit hole in terms of my being elected pope," he said.
Transfer of power
Benedict announced his
intention to step down on February 11 and resigned Thursday, becoming
the first pope to do so in almost 600 years. The transfer of papal power
has almost always happened after the sitting pope has died.
Normally, the College of
Cardinals is not allowed to select a new pontiff until 15 to 20 days
after the office becomes vacant. However, Benedict amended the
500-year-old policy to get a successor into place more rapidly.
The cardinals may to be able to do so before March 15, Lombardi has said.
This would give the new pontiff more than a week to prepare for the March 24 Palm Sunday celebrations.
Some gambling houses are offering odds on who will next lead the Catholic Church.
Favorites include the
archbishop of Milan, Italy, Cardinal Angelo Scola; Cardinal Tarcisio
Bertone of Italy; Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana, who would become the
first African pontiff since Pope Gelasius I died more than 1,500 years
ago; and Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Canada, who would become the first
North American pope.
While Benedict has no
direct involvement in the selection of his successor, his influence will
be felt: He appointed 67 of at least 115 cardinals set to make the
decision.
Wounded 'hearts and minds'
One former cardinal who
won't participate in the conclave is Keith O'Brien of Scotland, who
resigned last month. O'Brien apologized Sunday for sexual impropriety,
without specifying any incident.
"To those I have offended, I apologize and ask forgiveness," he said in a statement.
The Vatican refused to answer questions Monday about whether it would discipline O'Brien.
But others did comment.
"It looks as if the
incidence of abuse is practically zero right now as far as we can tell,
but they are still the victims, and the wound therefore is deep in their
hearts and minds very often," Cardinal Francis George, archbishop of
Chicago, told reporters in Rome. "As long as it's with them, it's with
all of us. And that will last for a long time, so the next pope has to
be aware of this."
Philip Tartaglia, the
archbishop of Glasgow and apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of
St. Andrews and Edinburgh, will administer O'Brien's archdiocese until a
new appointment is made.
"The most stinging
charge which has been leveled against us in this matter is hypocrisy,
and for obvious reasons," Tartaglia said Monday night in a sermon at St.
Andrew's Cathedral in Glasgow. "I think there is little doubt that the
credibility and moral authority of the Catholic Church in Scotland has
been dealt a serious blow, and we will need to come to terms with that."
Representatives of a
support group for abuse victims, Survivors Network of those Abused by
Priests, or SNAP, called Monday for the cardinals to elect a new pope
who is not a Vatican insider.
The group also called
for some of the older cardinals to absent themselves from the General
Congregations, arguing that some have been accused of complicity in
protecting priests accused of sexually abusing children.
"Their peers should push
them to stay home, or they should do so voluntarily, the group feels,
for the sake of the church and to avoid heaping more pain on wounded
victims and betrayed Catholics," a statement on SNAP's website said.
One of Italy's
anti-clerical abuse networks, L'Abuso, petitioned senior Vatican
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone on Monday not to allow the participation in
the conclave of an Italian cardinal it alleges helped protect priests
who molested minors in the past.
Cardinals must vote in
person, via paper ballot. Once the process begins, the cardinals aren't
allowed to talk with anyone outside of the conclave. They cannot leave
until white smoke emerges from the Vatican chimney -- the signal that a
new leader has been picked.
More than 5,000 journalists are now accredited for the papal conclave, Lombardi said Tuesday. They cover 24 languages, he said.
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