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Pope Benedict XVI waves as he leaves after Ash Wednesday mass/AFP

World

Crowds expected for pope as Vatican battles intrigue

The Panorama news weekly and the Repubblica daily said a report by a committee of cardinals into the leaks of confidential papal papers last year had uncovered allegations of intrigue, corruption and blackmail in the Vatican.

Following Benedict’s resignation, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone who occupies a post known as the “Camerlengo Cardinal” (Chamberlain Cardinal) will take over interim powers of managing the Church before a new pontiff is elected.

Catholics around the world have been divided over the resignation. Some criticised it as a break with tradition while others welcomed it as a way of breathing new life into the Church.

No clear favourite has emerged to succeed Joseph Ratzinger. But many observers say the cardinals, who make the choice, may plump for a much younger candidate who is a more pastoral figure than the academic Benedict.

A series of meetings of cardinals starting Friday will determine the date of the start of the conclave to elect a new pope. The Vatican has hinted that it could be brought forward to early March since there is no papal funeral.

Conclaves can last for days before a candidate wins a two-thirds majority.

The Vatican has said Benedict will retire to the papal summer residence of Castel Gandolfo near Rome for the next two or three months while a former monastery inside the Vatican is renovated.

Once he moves to the monastery on a hilltop over St Peter’s, the Catholic Church will be in an unprecedented and delicate situation of having a pope and his predecessor living virtually side by side within the Vatican walls.

Benedict has said he will live “hidden from the world” but Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi has said he could provide “spiritual guidance” to his successor and will likely continue to publish his theological research.

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Britain’s Observer newspaper meanwhile reported Sunday allegations of inappropriate behaviour against the country’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric.

It said Cardinal Keith O’Brien, leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland, has been reported to the Vatican by three priests and a former priest. O’Brien, who will be among those voting for the new pope, has contested the allegations.

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