Gianluigi Nuzzi, the Italian journalist who last year published leaked confidential papal documents supplied by the Pope Benedict’s former butler, Paulo Gabrielle, has been denied media accreditation by the Vatican to cover the upcoming conclave. “This is a choice for obscurantism, far from transparency and press freedom,” Gianluigi Nuzzi said on his Twitter account. In the Read more
The 115 cardinals participating in the conclave will know the identity of the new pope before the rest of the world, but their advance knowledge is likely to last for well over an hour, and even more in the unlikely event that the candidate they choose is not in the Sistine Chapel with them. The Read more
Eleonore Schoenborn, 92, the elderly mother of Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn’s hopes her son will not become pope. Fearing she would never see him and that he would be overwhelmed by Vatican intrigues, she told the Kleine Zeitung newspaper,”The whole family is afraid that Christoph will be elected pope.” Recalling Pope Benedict’s farewell speech, which made Read more
As preparations for the Conclave heat up inside the Vatican, media too continue to search for the story angle and ‘the’ picture. A day before the beginning of the conclave at the Vatican March 11, Reuters photographer Dylan Martinez tested a 1200-1700mm super-telephoto zoom lens, that lets photographers take detailed ‘up close’ photos some 130 metres Read more
“The will of God is not entirely clear,” Chicago’s Cardinal Francis George told his congregation on Sunday, and as cardinals, yesterday, had their final day of discussions it still seems there is no clear candidate cardinals can agree on. The cardinals, yesterday, held their last pre-conclave talks where they have been talking about the qualities Read more
Vatican Spokesman, Fr Federico Lombardi, Saturday, gave smoke watchers, either in St Peter’s Square, on TV, or the Internet, some broad indications on what times to look for smoke once the Conclave starts on Tuesday afternoon. Two votes are taken in the morning and another two taken in the afternoon, and when the balloting is unsuccessful, Read more
The excitement is increasing around St Peter’s Basilica as people arrive for this historic time and discuss the perceived needs of the church and the strengths or weaknesses of candidates. It is recognised that much is at stake in this conclave, perhaps more than ever before. A number of candidates’ names keep surfacing with the Read more
The Vatican is using a mixture of old-fashioned, traditional and ultra modern technologies as it prepares the Sistine Chapel for Tuesday’s conclave. A mixture of smoke signals, and a new stove, blacked out windows, and high-tech electronic jamming devices, are all being used. While the Vatican has not given details of electronic jamming and surveillance equipment Read more
In a blog post in CorriereDellaSera, John L Allen Jr proposes three possible ways for a papal candidate to emerge, getting the necessary 77 votes. Allen’s models are: Let’s get it over with The anti-establishment vote, or The ‘third world’ hypothesis Let’s get it over with This model brings together those wanting to have Read more
Less than 24 hours after the arrival of the final voting Cardinal, Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man from Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, Cardinals voted to hold a Conclave on Tuesday 12 March. “The eighth General Congregation of the College of Cardinals has decided that the Conclave will begin on Tuesday, 12 March 2013,” Father Federico Lombardi said Read more