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Cardinals Take Vow Of Silence
VATICAN CITY, April 9, 2005
(AP) Cardinals
began "an intense period of silence and prayer" before their conclave to choose
the next pope, saying Saturday they would stop speaking publicly to protect the
strict secrecy surrounding the centuries-old tradition.
The throngs of pilgrims who attended John Paul II's funeral Friday flowed out of
Rome, leaving mainly tourists in a quiet, rainy St. Peter's Square. The Vatican
said a decision on calls to put John Paul on a fast track to sainthood would
rest with the next pope.
Italian Cardinal Francesco Marchisano celebrated the second Mass for John Paul
in St. Peter's Basilica, a daily rite over nine days that began with the funeral
Mass. His homily praised "this infinite humanity" that he called the late pope's
hallmark.
The Vatican also released photographs of the pope's tomb, a white marble slab,
slightly raised off the floor and tilted, with the Latin letters IOANNES PAULUS
PPII, and the dates of his 26-year reign. It also bears the first two letters of
Christ's name in Greek, a common symbol with roots in early Christianity.
The grave is in the small grotto once occupied by the sarcophagus of Pope Paul
XXIII, which was moved into the main floor of St. Peter's Basilica after his
2000 beatification because so many pilgrims wanted to visit his tomb.
The unanimous vote Saturday by 130 cardinals to maintain public silence about
John Paul's successor was unprecedented. But in an era of continuous news
updates and constant speculation, Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls called
the media ban an "act of responsibility."
He asked journalists not to ask the cardinals for interviews and said they
should not take the prelates' silence as an act of "discourtesy."
"The cardinals, after the funeral Mass of the Holy Father, began a more intense
period of silence and prayer, in view of the conclave," Navarro-Valls said.
"They unanimously decided to avoid interviews and encounters with the media."
At least two cardinals later turned down requests for interviews.
The lack of access to the cardinals was unlikely to stem the speculation about
John Paul's successor, with worldwide interest peaking in what could be a tight
competition between reformers and conservatives.
Navarro-Valls said 115 prelates will participate in the conclave, which will
begin April 18 — all the cardinals under the age of 80 except for Cardinal Jaime
L. Sin of the Philippines and Cardinal Alfonso Antonio Suarez Rivera of Mexico,
who are too sick to attend.
John Paul took the name of an additional cardinal — kept secret apparently to
protect him from a government that represses religious activity — to the grave.
Cardinal Karl Lehmann was quoted by the German newspaper Allgemeine Zeitung as
saying race and background will play a role in the choice of the next pope, but
there were no clear favorites and "probably also no firm alliances."
"One must be moved through voting, contacts and discussion to a consensus," he
was quoted as saying.
Cardinals began "an intense period of silence and
prayer" before their conclave to choose the next pope, saying Saturday they
would stop speaking publicly to protect the strict secrecy surrounding the
centuries-old tradition.
The throngs of pilgrims who attended John Paul II's funeral Friday flowed out of
Rome, leaving mainly tourists in a quiet, rainy St. Peter's Square. The Vatican
said a decision on calls to put John Paul on a fast track to sainthood would
rest with the next pope.
Italian Cardinal Francesco Marchisano celebrated the second Mass for John Paul
in St. Peter's Basilica, a daily rite over nine days that began with the funeral
Mass. His homily praised "this infinite humanity" that he called the late pope's
hallmark.
The Vatican also released photographs of the pope's tomb, a white marble slab,
slightly raised off the floor and tilted, with the Latin letters IOANNES PAULUS
PPII, and the dates of his 26-year reign. It also bears the first two letters of
Christ's name in Greek, a common symbol with roots in early Christianity.
The grave is in the small grotto once occupied by the sarcophagus of Pope Paul
XXIII, which was moved into the main floor of St. Peter's Basilica after his
2000 beatification because so many pilgrims wanted to visit his tomb.
The unanimous vote Saturday by 130 cardinals to maintain public silence about
John Paul's successor was unprecedented. But in an era of continuous news
updates and constant speculation, Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls called
the media ban an "act of responsibility."
He asked journalists not to ask the cardinals for interviews and said they
should not take the prelates' silence as an act of "discourtesy."
"The cardinals, after the funeral Mass of the Holy Father, began a more intense
period of silence and prayer, in view of the conclave," Navarro-Valls said.
"They unanimously decided to avoid interviews and encounters with the media."
At least two cardinals later turned down requests for interviews.
The lack of access to the cardinals was unlikely to stem the speculation about
John Paul's successor, with worldwide interest peaking in what could be a tight
competition between reformers and conservatives.
Navarro-Valls said 115 prelates will participate in the conclave, which will
begin April 18 — all the cardinals under the age of 80 except for Cardinal Jaime
L. Sin of the Philippines and Cardinal Alfonso Antonio Suarez Rivera of Mexico,
who are too sick to attend.
John Paul took the name of an additional cardinal — kept secret apparently to
protect him from a government that represses religious activity — to the grave.
Cardinal Karl Lehmann was quoted by the German newspaper Allgemeine Zeitung as
saying race and background will play a role in the choice of the next pope, but
there were no clear favorites and "probably also no firm alliances."
"One must be moved through voting, contacts and discussion to a consensus," he
was quoted as saying.