“A man of the Church is not a star and must always remember the saying ‘whoever enters the conclave a pope comes out a cardinal’.” “Paradoxically, one must not appear in the papers and certainly not be photographed,” she wrote. Their approach is the polar opposite of a modern U.S.-style political campaign with primaries, televised debates, major donors and Facebook and Twitter strategies.

“This confession shook up everybody who’s anybody at the Vatican and led some cardinals to launch into the semi-official battle,” French journalist Caroline Pigozzi wrote in her newly published book Le Vatican indiscret (The Indiscreet Vatican). It will go into overdrive when cardinals from around the world arrive in the next few days.īut Benedict seems to have set the Roman rumour mill in motion back in 2010 when he told a German interviewer that he would consider resigning if he felt physically unable to continue. This round of discreet discussions, dubbed “totopapa” or “pope sweepstakes” by irreverent Romans, was only kicked into a higher gear on Monday when Benedict announced the first papal abdication for centuries. No cardinal can openly campaign for a job whose election is said to be inspired by the Holy Spirit.īut behind the scenes, at meetings inside the Vatican’s thick walls and dinners at the finer Roman restaurants, the cardinal electors size up potential candidates among themselves and drop subtle hints to Vatican watchers in the media about who’s up or down. Papal elections are among the world’s most mysterious, with no declared candidates and more bluffing than a high-stakes poker game. VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict may have shocked the world by announcing his resignation on Monday, but some cardinals apparently started manoeuvring for the succession as long as two years ago.

Atomic mail sender crack free download