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Cardinals Discuss ‘Hopes and Expectations’ of New Pope Secrecy Vow and Leaks Complicate Interaction of Cardinals and News Media
(about 9 hours later)
VATICAN CITY — Cardinals gathering to choose a pope to replace Benedict XVI held a third day of speeches and discussions on Wednesday on their “hopes and expectations” for his successor, but made no formal announcement of a date for their traditional secret balloting to choose a new leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics. VATICAN CITY — Journalists from around the world packed the daily briefings, relishing the rare opportunity to pose questions to the cardinals who will vote in the conclave to elect the next pope. The sessions, led by American cardinals, were a far cry from the elliptical approach favored by the Vatican.
Since Benedict resigned on Feb. 28 — the first pope to undertake such a step for centuries — cardinals, the so-called princes of the church, have been gathering in this city state to formulate their views on his successor at the so-called general congregation, a preliminary to the papal voting at a conclave. On Wednesday, however, under pressure from their fellow cardinals, the Americans canceled their news briefing and shut down all communication with the news media to address a different problem: rampant leaks to the Italian news media in the delicate period of meetings ahead of the conclave, expected to begin next week.
It is not yet clear when they will set a date for the ballot. But the tensions over how to address the news media — with American-style forthrightness or the ancient and more indirect ways of Italy — reflected a deeper culture clash between the Vatican as a global church, whose faithful often expect direct answers, and an Italian institution where secrecy is the rule but leaks often the norm.
Six days before his resignation took effect on Feb. 28, Benedict issued an order allowing the conclave to begin sooner than the 15 to 20 days usually required if a pope dies. Many cardinals have been hoping to return to their home dioceses in time for Holy Week, which begins this year on March 24, Palm Sunday, followed by Easter Sunday on March 31. That tension is certain to be on the minds of the cardinals as they gather to select the future leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
The pre-conclave gatherings, offering the cardinals a chance to make a case for the kind of pope they want, and to size one another up at coffee breaks and shared meals, began on Monday with 103 of the 115 cardinals eligible to vote in attendance along with older prelates. The cardinals swore an oath of secrecy before the meetings, prohibiting them from discussing their contents. But some cardinals have nevertheless spoken to news outlets from their home countries, including Brazil, Germany and France, sometimes sending what could be interpreted as direct messages to fellow cardinals.
That number reached 113 by Wednesday, according to the Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman. The remaining two cardinals from Poland and Vietnam are expected by Thursday. Although the Americans had been the soul of discretion, careful not to violate their vows of secrecy while trying to explain their thoughts on the selection process, their strategy of taking direct questions — including about the sex abuse crisis — seemed to some Vatican observers to veer over the line into a subtle campaign for the papacy.
Voting at the conclave, held in the Sistine Chapel, is restricted to cardinals under age 80. But scores of cardinals over 80 also took part in the general congregation held in a separate part of the Vatican. The total number attending the preliminary meeting is 153, Father Lombardi said. In the weeks since Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation and retirement, the Vatican has repeatedly said that cardinals selecting the next pope should not be swayed by statements in the news media. The Vatican Secretariat of State even compared news reports to the pressures exerted by foreign crowns to influence conclaves in past centuries.
The conclave usually begins with a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica and a procession to the Sistine Chapel, followed by one round of voting in the afternoon. In a terse statement on Wednesday, Sister Mary Ann Walsh, the spokeswoman for the American bishops, said, “The U.S. cardinals are committed to transparency and have been pleased to share a process-related overview of their work with members of the media and with the public.” They did so, she said, while still ensuring the confidentiality of the General Congregations, in which cardinals assess one another and discuss what they believe the church needs.
The voting then proceeds in rounds of two in the morning and two in the afternoon, for a total of four a day, or until a pope is chosen. The winner needs a two-thirds majority, which in this case will be 77 votes if all the expected 115 electors participate. “Due to concerns over accounts being reported in the Italian press, which breached confidentiality, the College of Cardinals has agreed not to give interviews,” she added.
So far in the pre-conclave meetings, 51 speeches have been made, 18 of them on Wednesday, as prelates discussed the profile of what the next pope should be, Father Lombardi said. The cardinals also resolved to meet again on Thursday afternoon. Those accounts in the Italian news media included tales of disagreement over the slow pace of the proceedings, and the potential advantage of non-Italian candidates for pope. Some also reported that individual cardinals advanced proposals to make it easier for branches of the Vatican to communicate better.
The prelates’ work is being led by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Angelo Sodano, the former No. 2 to Benedict and Pope John Paul II before him. Under his leadership, they agreed earlier to hold a public prayer service in St. Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday evening and sent a message expressing their gratitude to Benedict at Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer home, where he is staying for the next few months. The leaks revealed a uniquely Italian combination of hierarchy and anarchy, in which cardinals sworn to secrecy — or perhaps their aides — leak juicy gossip and convey messages through their favorite local reporters. Vatican watchers say that approach helped lead to the scandal of leaked documents that contributed to Benedict’s decision to resign, leaving the job to someone younger and stronger.
In one sign that the conclave is approaching, workers on Tuesday barred tourists from the Sistine Chapel. They will erect a wooden platform to protect the floor, install the stoves used to generate the smoke indicating whether a pope has been selected — white smoke signifies that the choice has been made — and set up tables and chairs for the red-hatted prelates. The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Wednesday that it was not up to the Vatican to tell the cardinals how to handle the news media, adding that the tradition of the conclave “is also a tradition of reserve to protect the liberty” of each cardinal so he can make his decision freely.
No conclave since the early 20th century has lasted more than five days. In 2005, Benedict was elected in less than 24 hours. The conclave that chose his predecessor, John Paul II, began on Oct. 14, 1978, and ended two days later with his election on Oct. 16. At his daily Vatican briefings, Father Lombardi, an amiable Jesuit with a nervous cough, often combines painstaking attention to liturgical detail with general evasion of thornier questions. Journalists have also been shown silent and surreal video images of the silver, wok-shaped urns in which cardinals will cast their ballots for pope. In the video, a mysterious hand opens the urn, a move more reminsicent of the Home Shopping Network than C-Span.

Daniel J. Wakin reported from Vatican City, and Alan Cowell from London

By contrast, the American briefings, at a seminary, were organized by the communications staff of the American bishops’ conference, who had traveled from Washington to set up the same kind of orderly access to cardinals that is a regular feature at the semiannual meetings of the conference.
On Tuesday, Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley of Boston and Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston spoke discreetly, while trying to respond forthrightly to questions about why the cardinals have delayed setting the date of the conclave, and whether they would learn the contents of a confidential dossier on the leaks scandal that was said to have been given to Benedict before he resigned.
“I feel confident the cardinals will share information with one another,” Cardinal O’Malley said.
A reporter asked why the Americans — and not cardinals from other countries — were holding news conferences. Cardinal DiNardo acknowledged, “This is perhaps more normal in the United States than it might be in other places.”
Although the briefings might seem routine for Americans — especially with more than 5,000 journalists in Rome for the conclave and hungry for news — some at the Vatican worried that the Americans looked as if they were campaigning for pope. Others indicated that it put cardinals from other countries under more pressure to do the same.
“We know that there are lots of American media who came in force with lots of people,” Father Lombardi said at a news briefing at the Vatican on Wednesday, “so I am not surprised that the American cardinals paid attention.”
But he said they were the exception. “Other bishops’ conferences don’t do it because they’re not so numerous or well organized and they didn’t think to do it,” Father Lombardi said. “There’s no briefing of German cardinals, there’s no briefing of Italian cardinals.”

Daniel J. Wakin contributed reporting.