‘U.S. vs. the Curia’ has become story line in Rome

The College of Cardinals’ blanket ban on interviews with the press has returned the conclave narrative to its traditional padroni: Italian journalists and their Italian and Roman Curia sources.

On a practical level, the move effectively muzzled U.S. cardinals and sent a signal that the Vatican’s communication culture remains one of back-channel sources, leaks and speculation — not on-the-record press conferences.

Not surprisingly, the Italian papers today – in particular, La Stampa – were chock full of unsourced details from the cardinals’ closed-door general congregation meetings. Cardinal Fernando Filoni, the Italian head of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, gave a global report on missionary challenges. Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, the Italian head of the Congregation for Clergy, weighed in with an overview on the priesthood and vocations.

Italian Cardinal Camillo Ruini spoke about the need to choose a younger pope with sufficient energy. Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet and U.S. Cardinal Raymond Burke, both Roman Curia officials, talked about the figure and role of “pope emeritus.” Italian Cardinal Angelo Scola went over the five-minute limit in his talk on the nature of the church.

None of this is earth-shaking news. It’s just more than dribbles out of the official Vatican briefings, in which names are never named.

More interesting is that the journalistic narrative is now pitting the reform-minded, exasperated U.S. cardinals against the entrenched Old Guard of the Roman Curia and Italian hierarchy.

Here’s the way the daily Il Fatto Quotidiano set the scene: “The Vatican was not expecting the activism of the American cardinals: that they don’t want to hurry up the process at all cost, that they don’t want to avoid the subject of pedophilia, that they don’t want to skip over the intrigue of Vatileaks, that they don’t want to lock themselves into a conclave and make a mess of it.”

“The reaction of the Curia officials, the cardinals who control the Holy See under the guidance of the chamberlain, Tarcisio Bertone, was not long in arriving: a ban on talking, no press conferences, we’re in charge.”

From the people I’ve spoken with, there’s some truth to all this. There’s also a sense that the general congregations have been drifting along without much focus, that with speech after speech on such a variety of topics, they lack cohesion.

That contrasts with the way the same meetings were chaired eight years ago by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who made a habit of tying themes together and synthesizing interventions at the end of the day.

Certainly, as the cardinals gaze up at the dais, they see the face of the Roman Curia over the last 23 years: Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals and secretary of state from 1990-2006, runs the general congregations; at his side is Cardinal Bertone, Benedict’s secretary of state, who as chamberlain has administrative duties during the papal transition.

These two men are reported to have set aside their well-known differences, in part because they recognize that a unified Roman Curia has a much better chance of controlling the conclave’s outcome. No doubt, too, they have been brought closer together by talk of a crisis of governance at the Vatican – these two have been responsible for many of the incidents under discussion.

In the “America vs. the Curia” scenario, it’s inevitable that potential U.S. candidates for the papacy are receiving closer attention. But what began in the Italian press a few weeks ago as almost playful entertainment of the idea of an “American pope” has now taken on a more serious tone.

Today’s headline in Corriere della Sera put it bluntly: “The Americans launch the challenge to elect one of their own.” It includes Canadian Cardinal Ouellet among the group of North American papabili who are supposedly gaining traction.

Sandro Magister, who blogs for the magazine Espresso, makes the case today for Cardinals Dolan or O’Malley: “An American in Rome, Bound for the Chair of Peter.”

Meanwhile, there seems to be a growing consensus in Rome that the Roman Curia’s favorite candidate may be Brazilian Cardinal Odilo Scherer of Sao Paolo. The church would have “a Brazilian pope,” but one of German descent, who has worked seven years in the Roman Curia, who has dealt with Vatican bank issues and who is trusted by the top officials of the Secretariat of State.

Scherer would be expected to draw a significant number of votes from three groups (some of which overlap): the Roman Curia, which has 41 past or present members in the conclave; European cardinals, who represent more than half the conclave with 60 voting members; and Latin Americans, who have 19 voting cardinals.

At the official Vatican briefing today, we learned that cardinals have still not set a date for the start of the conclave.

The cardinals today heard brief reports on the financial state of the Holy See, from three cardinals who head the Vatican’s budget office, investment and patrimony commission, and governor’s office.

The other 13 cardinals who spoke this morning returned to earlier general themes (the church in the world, the relationship between Roman Curia and bishops) but also touched on ecumenical dialogue and the church’s action on behalf of the poor.

A few modest proposals for the next pope

Throughout my career, I’ve wisely refrained from giving advice to popes or the Vatican. I make an exception today, because in the wake of ex-Pope Benedict’s resignation I’m hoping the cardinals give some creative thought to how a pope governs in the modern age.

It’s on the op-ed page of USA Today. I tried to keep it short: Seven Steps for a New Pope.

Gag order on the cardinals

I guess it was too good to continue.

U.S. cardinals abruptly canceled their planned briefing today, and no further briefings were scheduled.

Sister Mary Ann Walsh, who had coordinated the U.S. press encounters, said in an email: “Concern was expressed in the General Congregation about leaks of confidential proceedings reportedin Italian newspapers. As a precaution, the cardinals have agreed not to do interviews.”

In other words, because some anonymous cardinals fed Italian reporters a few details about their discussions, a gag order now applies to all the cardinals.

The U.S. briefings, which typically featured two American cardinals fielding questions in 30-minute sessions, had become a welcome daily ritual for journalists in Rome who are trying to cover the pre-conclave meetings that began this week.

It should be noted that the U.S. cardinals, like all the rest, have taken an oath to maintain secrecy regarding conclave matters. But they have given reporters at least an outline of the discussions, if not precise content, and have been willing to answer general questions on issues not directly related to the conclave.

It’s more than a little ironic that the Americans, who have been candid about the limits on what they could say even as they met the press, are now forced to retreat behind a wall of silence.

The Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, who holds his own briefings each day (and like U.S. cardinals, provides general and practical information without getting into the substance of the cardinals’ meetings), was asked if the Vatican had intervened to put an end to the American press encounters.

He said it was not up to him to tell cardinals what they can and cannot say to the press. But he added that the conclave was not a congress or a synod, in which abundant information is given. On the contrary, he said, this process has “a tradition of confidentiality in order to protect the freedom of members of the college.”

Therefore, he said he was not surprised that the rest of the cardinals may have reacted to the U.S. availability to the press – especially as the cardinals deepened their discussions this week. He noted that no other national group had decided to give the kind of briefings as the Americans were doing.

Father Lombardi said that to date, 51 cardinals had spoken in the general congregations, touching on the following main topics: the church and the world, “new evangelization,” the Holy See and Roman Curia departments and relations with bishops.

What’s also beginning to emerge, he said, was a profile of the qualities and tasks for the next pope.

Those wanting more information, I guess, should read the Italian papers and try to sift the speculation from the good stuff. Today’s Italian take: the cardinals are fighting about the start date of the conclave – which still has to be decided; the Roman Curia is under attack from many cardinals, who are asking for deep reforms; several cardinals are upset at the paltry information they’re being given by three cardinals who authored a confidential report on Vatican leaks and corruption.