Pope Benedict XVI resigned-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina has been elected

[Allusonz]

Ugh, Bertone is in third (or is that second, past the tie for first?). He has always struck me as somewhat of a snake.

Regrettably, my Brasilian pick is down to 60/1.

My tolerable pick of Cdl Sean is still a possibility.

Still, if I were betting, as I've been saying from the beginning, my money would be on an Italian.

No please not Bertone.

Interestingly enough one of Pope Benedict XVI last acts was to appoint a new president of the Vatican Bank, and Cardinal Marc Ouellet was in the meeting.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Cardinals begin pre-conclave meetings amid scandal

By NICOLE WINFIELD, AP
6 hours ago

VATICAN CITY — Cardinals from around the world gathered Monday inside the Vatican for their first round of meetings before the conclave to elect the next pope, amid scandals inside and out of the Vatican and the continued reverberations of Benedict XVI's decision to retire.

Cardinals were treated like rock stars as they entered the Vatican on Monday morning, with television crews swarming around the red-capped churchmen and their handlers pushing their way through the crowds.

"A Latin American Pope is possible, everything is possible!" said Portuguese Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins as he entered.

The core agenda item is to set the date for the conclave and set in place procedures to prepare for it, including closing the Sistine Chapel to visitors and getting the Vatican hotel cleared out and de-bugged, lest anyone try to listen in on the secret conversations of the cardinals...

http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20130301/EU.Vatican.Pope/

 

[wfgodot]

Argentina's Cardinal Mario Bergoglio looks like a smart-money bet at 40/1 right now. Would be first Jesuit pope.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Victims raise legal questions about retired pope

By RACHEL ZOLL, AP
3 hours ago

VATICAN CITY — Attorneys who have tried unsuccessfully for years to sue the Vatican over failures to stop clergy sex abuse are looking into whether former Pope Benedict XVI is more legally vulnerable in retirement, especially if he travels beyond the Vatican walls.

A U.S. lawyer for the Vatican argues that, like any former head of state, Benedict retains legal immunity regardless of whether he is in or out of office. But advocates for victims say immunity in this case should be tested, since modern-day courts have never before dealt with an emeritus pope.

"So much of this is unprecedented," said Pamela Spees, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York, which is pressing the International Criminal Court to investigate the Vatican's response to abusive priests as a crime against humanity. "There's nothing set in stone about it."

Benedict stepped down last week, becoming the first pontiff in six centuries to do so. Before he became head of the Roman Catholic Church in 2005, he spent more than two decades in charge of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican office that over the years gained authority to oversee abuse claims against clergy worldwide.

Still, his record on trying to end abuse stands above that of many other church officials...

http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20130305/Pope.Immunity/

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

March 6, 2013 at 10:39 am

American cardinals nix conclave briefing due to concern of leaks

By Nicole Winfield
Associated Press

Vatican City — The Vatican's penchant for secrecy has won out over American-style transparency.

The U.S. cardinals in Rome for the conclave to elect the next pope canceled their popular daily press briefings Wednesday after some details of the secret proceedings under way ahead of the election were purportedly leaked to Italian newspapers.

The Vatican denied it had exerted any pressure on the American cardinals to keep quiet. But the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, made clear that the Holy See considered this week's pre-conclave meetings, in which cardinals are discussing the problems of the church, to be secret and part of a solemn process to choose a pope.

"The College (of Cardinals) as a whole has decided to maintain a line of an increasing degree of reserve," he said...

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130306/LIFESTYLE04/303060389#ixzz2Mm9yBLvV

 

[wfgodot]

Great time in Church history to be more opaque than usual, isn't it.

 

[wfgodot]

New Yorker update:

Pre-Clave: the Cardinals who knew too little

---
What the cardinals are least sure about, by most accounts, is what they want in a Pope, even as there are already factions around various candidates. Will all the Romans have Vatileaks problems? Who do the Americans think they are? How disappointed will the world be if there is no historic election of a non-European Pope? And how about the cardinal who’s been quoting Jack Kerouac? (“You boys going to get somewhere, or just going?”) Who can manage this place, and who ought to be deciding? At one congregation, the Swiss Guards pulled a fake bishop from a Vatican meeting. (From Time: “His sash was the wrong color and, instead of a skullcap, he wore a fedora.”) Will they know it when they see the real Pope?

the rest of the story at the link above

 

[Gardenlady]

Hmm, Kerouac? Maybe not that bad after all?

Rocco Palmo at Whispers in the Loggia blog continues to have great info, background, insider chatter, and pics, including this one, which I love, for some reason - the Cardinal of Lyon arriving for meetings on his bike, being chased by the press-

 

[wfgodot]

Father Tissa Balasuriya obituary (Guardian)
Outspoken Roman Catholic priest and social activist in Sri Lanka
who was excommunicated during the papacy of John Paul II

 

[Gardenlady]

Via Whispers in the Loggia - the paparazzi have caught up with Papa Ratzi (accompanied by Gorgeous Georg, his personal secretary) in his retirement. Italian celeb magazine Chi had the first pic of Benedict after his departure:

 

[Veidt]

.....

You know, that seems possible. They want to have a new Pope in time for Easter, but I don't think they'll want to usher in the new Pope without any time to settle in. I was thinking closer to the 18th, though.

 

[michmi]

....and the last cardinal has arrived....

 

[txsvicki]

Does anyone think the new Pope, regardless of whether he has Peter in his given name or not, might take the name Peter the Roman? I'm not Catholic and mean no disrespect, but wondering if they might do this hoping to wake people up with end times so they get into or back into the church.

 

[Nova]

Does anyone think the new Pope, regardless of whether he has Peter in his given name or not, might take the name Peter the Roman? I'm not Catholic and mean no disrespect, but wondering if they might do this hoping to wake people up with end times so they get into or back into the church.

I see where you're going and it's interesting. But the Church's official position has long been that the Malachy prophecies are forgeries.

It would be a little awkward to start deliberately fulfilling those prophecies now.

 

[Veidt]

Does anyone think the new Pope, regardless of whether he has Peter in his given name or not, might take the name Peter the Roman? I'm not Catholic and mean no disrespect, but wondering if they might do this hoping to wake people up with end times so they get into or back into the church.

No, I don't think so. While in theory they could adopt Peter as a Papal Name, no pope has ever taken it because they want to be respectful of St. Peter (considered the first pope). As I said, in theory I think there is no restriction against it, but it is at least a traditional thing that they just observe. Nowadays they mostly choose based on previous popes they want to pay homage to, and sometimes related to saints/religious orders. I don't think "Peter the Roman" is seen as a viable name, they seem to follow the format of a single name or at most two names (like John Paul, etc).

I also don't think they would do it because of the prophecy. Sure, alerts of the end times could get more attention, it would come across as a cheap PR move. It would just give people an excuse to panic if they believe in conspiracy theories. Plus the Vatican has always distanced itself from the prophecy of the popes.

Although I'm sure that even if he doesn't pick that name (and whoever he is, he probably won't) I'm sure that people who believe in that theory could find a way to spin it. Most of the epithets used for the popes in the past few centuries in the prophecy are so vague they could really apply to anything, it's like an ink blot test - people see what they want to see especially if they read the part up until the time when the prophecy was likely written (15th century) which is more specific about the popes.

 

[Gardenlady]

Does anyone think the new Pope, regardless of whether he has Peter in his given name or not, might take the name Peter the Roman? I'm not Catholic and mean no disrespect, but wondering if they might do this hoping to wake people up with end times so they get into or back into the church.

Unlike a lot of American Christian denoms, 'end times' talk is not big in the RCC. The church's eschatology is a lot different than what you're likely to find in your average American, non-catholic church. End times talk would likely get you a roll of the eyes from both your average layperson and your average priest.

Also, I doubt any pope, even amongst the most insufferable of the cardinals, would have the nerve to take the name Peter.

Lastly, as Nova pointed out, the Malachy prophecies are forgeries, and widely recognized as such.

So my answer is, there is almost zero chance of such a thing happening.

 

[wfgodot]

We're probably not going to see a Pope George Ringo either, from what I understand. Disappointing, really.

 

[Gardenlady]

Or Lando II, unfortunately

 

[wfgodot]

.....

The Associated Press ‏@AP
BREAKING: Cardinals set Tuesday as start date for conclave to elect new pope.-BW

 

[Gardenlady]

Scola of Italy has edged out Turkson of Ghana at Paddy Power...