Roman Curia is early focus of cardinals’ discussions

We learned today that the cardinals meeting ahead of the conclave focused this morning on three general topics: the Roman Curia and its relationship with bishops around the world, renewal in light of the Second Vatican Council and the demands of “new evangelization” in various cultural contexts.

Although those are ambiguous phrases, they’re a clue to what’s on the cardinals’ minds. Clearly, governance of the Roman Curia has already been raised and will continue to be discussed, in light of various leaks and scandals that have come to light in recent years.

Italian newspapers reported this morning that some cardinals, including Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schonborn, have asked for information from the three cardinals who prepared a report on the factors that led to the “Vatileaks” scandal. According to these reports, the answers given by the three cardinals were not very precise or helpful.

Ex-Pope Benedict met with the three cardinals a few days before his resignation and declared that their report would remain secret for the time being, and left only for his successor to read. That may well explain their reluctance to share specific content from the report.

At a press briefing today, Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston was asked about Roman Curia issues.

“There is certainly a lot of reflection going on throughout the Catholic world about the governance of the church, about how to improve it and make the Holy Father’s ministry more effective and supported by the bureaucracy of the Holy See,” he said.

“Vatileaks grabbed headlines for a long time, but I don’t know how important those issues are in terms of the work of the conclave. I feel confident the cardinals will share with each other the information that is really germane and important for us to know as we try and make this important decision,” he said.

Afternoon sessions scrapped

One somewhat surprising development came when cardinals decided not to meet twice daily, as had been expected, but to gather only in morning sessions – at least for the next few days.

No explanation was given, but some cardinals felt the very structured sessions of the general congregations, if held twice a day, simply took up too much time and left little chance for the equally important informal meetings, conversations and dinners – which is where cardinals feel more free to talk about papal candidates.

Meanwhile, the cardinals have scheduled an afternoon prayer session for Wednesday afternoon in St. Peter’s Basilica. All the cardinals and the public are invited.

Sistine Chapel closed

The Vatican is closing the Sistine Chapel to visitors as of this afternoon, a sure sign that a conclave is coming. Construction to host the structures needed in the conclave will begin today, too.

Who will be the last cardinal to the conclave?

Incredible as it may seem, more than three weeks after ex-Pope Benedict announced he would retire Feb. 28, there are still some cardinal no-shows in Rome.

Their absence is delaying a vote on the starting date for the conclave, since the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, apparently believes that decision should be made once all voting-age cardinals have ample time to arrive.

As of midday on March 5, the second day of the cardinals’ pre-conclave meetings, these cardinals were still reportedly making their way to Rome: Cardinals John Tong Hon of Hong Kong (who was said to be on a Lenten retreat), Coptic Cardinal Antonios Naguib of Egypt, German Cardinal Karl Lehmann, Vietnamese Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man, and Polish Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi downplayed speculation about their absence, saying it was “completely normal” and that the Vatican was in contact with the missing cardinals. It seemed most, if not all, were expected in Rome by Wednesday.

Telegram to Benedict

The cardinals sent a telegram today to “His Holiness Benedict XVI, Pope Emeritus,” thanking him for his “untiring work” as pope and assuring him of their prayers.

Why the press is beating a path to U.S. cardinals

U.S. cardinals are getting rave reviews from journalists for their availability during the “general congregations” leading up to the conclave.

In contrast to their brethren from the rest of the world, the Americans are holding well-organized daily press briefings at North American College, just up the hill from the Vatican press office.

Chaired by Sister Mary Ann Walsh, director of media relations for the U.S. bishops’ conference, these sessions typically feature two U.S. cardinals who field questions for a half-hour. The relatively rapid-fire Q and A in English is a welcome complement to the lengthy, multi-lingual briefings offered by non-cardinals at the Vatican.

One of Rome’s leading newspapers, Il Messaggero, said the American cardinals had clearly learned the value of transparency in dealing with the press.

“It’s been the Americans who are giving lessons in communication and in conveying a unity of vision,” the newspaper said.

“The Italians aren’t even thinking about this, maybe because they’re too divided and too resistant to new frontiers. They prefer to slip away, waving nervously and avoiding contact. The Germans, Spanish, French (with a few exceptions) and even the Latin Americans are doing the same,” the newspaper said.

After today’s briefing with Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston and Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, another session was announced for Wednesday featuring Cardinal George and Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York. A French reporter in the room was heard to exclaim: “God bless America!” (UPDATE: Now we’re told it will be Cardinals George and McCarrick on Wednesday, not Dolan.)

The U.S. cardinals are, of course, walking a fine line. Like other cardinals, they took an oath to preserve secrecy over all matters relating to the conclave.

Nevertheless, there appears to be an understanding that cardinals can talk to the press throughout the pre-conclave meetings, as long as they don’t divulge too many details about the conclave itself. Since much of these discussion will relate to general church issues and not judgments on papabili, that leaves room for some freedom of expression.

U.S. cardinals reflect on first day of cardinals' meetings

After participating in the first “general congregation” of cardinals to prepare for the conclave, Cardinal Francis George of Chicago made some interesting points in a briefing for reporters.

First, he said, the cardinals are in no hurry to begin the conclave.

“Someone quoted St. Thomas of Aquinas, who said you should be slow in deliberation and quick in decision making,” he said. “So, decision-making is the conclave, and deliberation is the general congregations.”

“I think that caught the sense of everyone there, that we need to take the time necessary,” he said.

The cardinals must begin the conclave by March 20, but they are free to move the start date up, and some had suggested that March 11 might not be too early to file into the Sistine Chapel and begin voting. From what Cardinal George and others said today, a later date now looks more likely.

Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington added that it was his understanding that before setting the conclave date, all cardinal electors must have arrived in Rome. That may not happen for another day or two.

Cardinal George also said he thought clergy sex abuse would be “an important issue in the minds and heart of the cardinals” as they choose a new pope. He called sex abuse a “terrible wound on the body of the church,” and said the zero tolerance policy — removal of all priest abusers from ministry — must continued to be accepted as the universal law of the church. Although new cases of abuse are much rarer, victims are still hurting and “the next pope has to be aware of this,” he said.

Asked about the situation of Scottish Cardinal Keith O’Brien, who announced he would not participate in the conclave and acknowledged inappropriate sexual conduct in the 1980s, Cardinal George said it was a “tragic moment for him.”

“Certainly the tragic moment was when he was guilty of misconduct, and the consequences played themselves out now,” he said.

Cardinal George participated in the conclave of 2005, when the general congregations were presided over by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who was eventually elected as Pope Benedict. This time, the general congregations are being run by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals.

Asked to compare the styles of the two men, Cardinal George said that while Cardinal Ratzinger was a theologian, and tended to synthesize the discussions, Cardinal Sodano was a canonist, and had a clear, direct approach in giving instructions and presenting the issues. “Both ways are effective,” he added.

Cardinal Sodano explained to the cardinals the rather tricky balancing act between swearing secrecy over conclave matters — which they all did this morning — and talking with the press in coming days. Essentially, it seems, cardinals will be free to talk to reporters as long as they’re not too particular about content and don’t start naming papal contenders.

As Cardinal George remarked, “They’ve decided perhaps that it’s better to talk to the press rather than not talk to the press.”