Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Cardinals end final day of talks before papal conclave begins

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WITH the focus of the global community turning to the Vatican today, Catholic cardinal electors ended the final day of horse-trading for the position Monday before shutting themselves into the Sistine Chapel to elect a new Pope after Benedict XVI’s shock resignation.

But agency reports indicated that an Italian and a Brazilian who both head powerful archdioceses are among the top contenders for the headship of the world Catholics.



According to Agence France Presse (AFP), the cardinals Monday held their last pre-conclave talks where they have been debating the challenges that the next Pope will face and vetting possible candidates for the post.

Meanwhile, the honour of announcing the next leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics will fall to French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, who will proclaim the outcome of the conclave from St. Peter’s Basilica.

The Bach-loving former Vatican diplomat will speak in Latin on a loggia over St. Peter’s Square after the conclave of cardinals announces a new Pope has been elected by sending out white smoke from the Sistine Chapel.

Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum. Habemus papam! (I announce to you a great joy. We have a pope!)”, Tauran will say and then announce the name of the elected cardinal and the papal title he has chosen.

The 70-year-old from Bordeaux has the official title of “cardinal proto-deacon”, meaning he is the most senior cardinal from the order of deacons.

The College of Cardinals is divided up into three orders: bishops, priests and deacons.

Tauran used to be the top Vatican official for inter-religious dialogue. He previously served as head of the Vatican’s diplomatic service and travelled the world for late pope John Paul II.
However, Vatican insiders put Milan Archbishop Angelo Scola in the lead, but without the support of two-thirds of the 115 “cardinal electors” needed to become the new leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics.

Brazilian Odilo Scherer, the charismatic archbishop of Sao Paolo and Latin America’s best hope, is also seen as in with a chance after the red-frocked cardinals begin the storied process, cloaked in secrecy, of choosing one of their peers to lead the Church.

The electors must take a solemn oath of secrecy or face excommunication – though no examples of such a fate appear in the record, and Vatican journalists have shown a wily knack for extracting insider information.

Vatican staff members who will work around the conclave from today were also due to take the same oath later on Monday.

In churches across Rome on Sunday, many of the hopefuls celebrated mass during which they prayed for the divine guidance that is traditionally sought in making their choice.

U.S. Cardinal Sean O’Malley said in his homily that the Catholic world was “united in prayer” as the clock ticked down to the conclave starting today.

“Let us pray that the Holy Spirit enables the Church to choose a new pope who will confirm us in our faith and make more visible the love of the Good Shepherd,” O’Malley told parishioners in Santa Maria della Vittoria church.

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Their task is to find a pope – the 266th – strong enough to grapple with the challenges assailing the Catholic Church that proved too much for 85-year-old Benedict.

His resignation – the first for 700 years – has focused attention on the need to find a leader with the energy to shape the Church’s approach to growing secularism in the West and the Islamic radicalism spreading to many parts of the globe.

Cardinals have expressed a desire for a more vigorous, pastoral figure to deal with the relentless scandals over sexual abuse by paedophile priests and cover-ups by superiors that have rocked the Catholic Church.

“Critics would say the most important piece of unfinished business” is cracking down on bishops who protect paedophile priests, said Vatican expert John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter.

“The Vatican now has tough policies against priests who abuse, but it does not have equally tough policies for bishops,” Allen told AFP.

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