Cardinals press for more information about Vatileaks

Cardinals have pressed for more information about the "Vatileaks" scandal as a series of Vatican meetings get under way to prepare for a conclave to elect a new pope after Benedict XVI's sudden resignation, reports AAP in the Herald Sun.

"If we're going to make a good decision, I'm sure we'll have to have some information on that," South African cardinal Wilfrid Napier told reporters on the sidelines of the closed-door meetings yesterday.

Asked whether there would have to be a reform of the Roman Curia, the central government of the Catholic church, Napier said: "That naturally is going to come into the picture as well."

French cardinal Philippe Barbarin said: "We want to know what's going on inside the Vatican, which has been a bit knocked about in recent years."

Hundreds of confidential papal documents alleging instances of corruption and intrigue in the administration of the Vatican were leaked to the press last year, causing huge embarrassment.

Benedict's butler was convicted in the case but some Vatican watchers say there may have been a wider conspiracy and an inquiry by three cardinals into the affair has been kept secret.

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi implied there would be no general discussion on "Vatileaks", saying cardinals could ask fellow cardinals in private "for any information they believe useful".

Spanish cardinal Carlos Amigo Vallejo played down wider implications from the scandal.

"I was a missionary bishop for a long time and I thought of those small communities in North Africa. I don't think they care a lot about our little internal problems," he said.