Thursday, April 14, 2005
POPE SURVIVOR PROGRESSES TO ELIMINATION ROUND
The Pell for Pope push is fading as Pope wannabes provoke the Vatican’s version of a red state/blue state split:
A battle for the soul of Catholicism was unfolding in the Vatican yesterday as progressive cardinals struggled to head off a conservative victory in next week’s conclave.
Two main groups have emerged from within the 115 cardinals eligible to vote for the successor to Pope John Paul II when they meet under “lock and key” in the Sistine Chapel on Monday.
The first group, referred to by some cardinals as the integristi - the integrators or conservatives - is falling in behind Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.
But the riformisti have yet to concede defeat, say insiders. They believe that they also command up to a third of the votes, but their main weakness is that they have no credible candidate.
So? That never stopped John Kerry! (Erm, wait a second ... ) Anyway, Ratzinger is judged a clear early leader:
La Repubblica newspaper said Cardinal Ratzinger could already count on at least 40, if not 50, votes from among the 115 cardinal electors who will take part in the conclave. To be elected, a candidate must win two-thirds of the vote, or 77 votes.
Cardinal Ratzinger is reportedly particularly eager to find the 264th successor of Peter quickly, and La Repubblica reported that he would withdraw his “candidacy” if he fails to garner the two-thirds majority needed on the first day.
Which might set up Pell for a Bradbury-style victory. In which case Jane Fraser predicts mixed feelings locally:
If he is elected pope, as the Italian newspaper Il Giornale has suggested he may, Pell’s haters will sound bells and blow whistles to celebrate the departure of their enemy from these shores. But they will be incandescent with rage at the thought of him getting the top job. Then there’s the matter of what name Pell would take should he succeed; his friends think Pope Bruce has a nice ring to it. Go, George!
Meanwhile, Spiegel Online reports (via David Kaspar) that German green Antje Vollmer has a bold new theory:
The US government set the Catholic pedophilia scandal in motion because it wanted to weaken an already frail pope. That’s also why it made Poland its chief partner in the Iraq war: to make the Vatican look bad.
It makes sense, once you remove your frontal lobe.