The Catholic Church marked its first Sunday in nearly eight years
without a papal blessing yesterday, as cardinals gathered to elect a
leader of the 1.2bn-member faith in one of the most troubled periods of
its history.The windows of the papal apartments overlooking St Peter’s Square were shut, which is normally the case only when a pope is outside Rome and delivers the Sunday blessing elsewhere.
There was no papal blessing of any kind, the first time the Church has been in such a state of limbo since Sunday, Apr 3, 2005, the day after Pope John Paul II died.
“It’s strange, very strange to come to Rome to St Peter’s Square and not to hear the Angelus of the pope, especially because the pope is still alive — it’s a unique situation that we are living through,” said Fabio Ferrara, who was one of the few people in the square at 12pm.
“We have been praying a lot. It’s sad, it is very, very sad. We feel like orphans,” said Sr Agnese Carreddu, an Italian nun in the square.
Catholics at Sunday masses throughout the world did not hear the customary prayer for “our pope, Benedict”. It will be omitted from every mass until there is a new pope.
Today cardinals will begin preliminary meetings, known as general congregations, to get to know each other, discuss Church issues and decide the starting date of the closed-door conclave to choose Benedict’s successor.
The meetings are open to all cardinals, whereas only those under 80 can enter the Sistine Chapel and elect a pope from their own ranks.
Currently 115 cardinal electors are due to take part in the conclave, which many believe will start around Mar 10.
The Vatican seems to be aiming for an election by mid-March so the new pope can be installed in office before Palm Sunday on Mar 24 and lead Holy Week services culminating in Easter the following Sunday.
No frontrunner stands out and no campaigning is allowed, but leading candidates include Peter Turkson of Ghana, Leonardo Sandri of Argentina, Christoph Schoenborn of Austria, Brazil’s Odilo Scherer, Canadian Marc Ouellet, and Angelo Scola, the leading Italian candidate.
Benedict ended his difficult eight-year reign on Thursday pledging unconditional obedience to whoever succeeds him.
The cardinals will be worrying about a bureaucracy hit by scandals, intrigue, and betrayals befitting a Renaissance court.
As well as sexual abuse by priests around the world, the scandals closer to home involve the leak of Benedict’s personal papers, media reports of sexual misconduct in the Vatican, wiretapping, bureaucratic bungling and mishaps that many say could have been avoided.
The foreign cardinals who will choose the next pope have been particularly alarmed over the reports and might be inclined to pick someone not connected with the Vatican’s Italian-dominated central administration, insiders say.
The cardinals will not see a top secret report prepared for Pope Benedict on mismanagement and infighting. But its three cardinal authors will be in the general congregations to advise electors on its findings.
The Vatican has accused the media of spreading “false and damaging” reports.