Secrecy shrouds Vatican
2005-04-16 08:32
Vatican City - Housekeepers, car drivers and other people with access to cardinals during the conclave took an oath of secrecy, promising never to reveal the details of the politicking and infighting behind the selection of the next pope unless the pontiff himself authorises it.
With one hand on the book of the Gospels, each of the officials and aides also swore o Friday they would refrain from using any audio or video equipment during the closed-door vote or face the severest of punishments the church can mete out: excommunication.
"I will observe absolute and perpetual secrecy with all who are not part of the College of Cardinal electors concerning all matters directly or indirectly related to the ballots cast and their scrutiny for the election of the Supreme Pontiff," they intoned. "So help me God and these Holy Gospels which I touch with my hand."
The ceremony, which took place in the Apostolic Palace, was one of the first formal acts signalling the start of Monday's conclave. Another one came earlier in the day when workers scaled the roof of the Sistine Chapel and attached the chimney pipe that will spew out puffs of white smoke to announce to the world that a new pope has been elected.
Secrecy has long been a hallmark of conclaves, but the threat of leaks and spying seemed greater than ever in an age of high-tech listening devices, some 6 000 accredited journalists prowling Vatican City and seemingly intractable global interest in the decisions of 115 red-hatted "princes of the church."
In addition, for the first time ever, cardinals will be allowed to move about Vatican City freely once the voting starts, though they are forbidden to talk to anyone who hasn't been sworn to secrecy.
Already, though, leaks from the secret pre-conclave meetings were abounding in the Italian media, with newspapers reporting on the daily jockeying of factions pushing their candidates. Early in the week saw Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany a front-runner with nearly half of the votes. By Friday, Cardinal Angelo Sodano and Chilean Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa were gaining some momentum, according to newspaper accounts.
Pope John Paul II outlined the secrecy procedures in his 1996 document "Universi Dominici Gregis," or "Shepherd of the Lord's Whole Flock." In it, he allowed for a few people to have contact with the cardinals: prelates involved in ceremonial functions, maids and food servers at the Vatican hotel where the cardinals will stay, car drivers who will ferry them to the Sistine Chapel and back each day, elevator operators who will bring them to the chapel itself, doctors and nurses on call for sick cardinals and priests who will hear confessions.
John Paul also singled out the need for two "trustworthy technicians" who will sweep the Sistine Chapel for bugs and other listening devices.
- AP