Despite the Hush Order, the Vatican Continues to Leak; Dolan Addresses Scandals
By Maura Grunlund
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), which is headed by New York's Cardinal Dolan, claims that the leaks of information from the Vatican are continuing despite the Vatican's decision to cancel the popular news conferences given by the American cardinals. More than 5,000 reporters have descended on the Vatican and it's apparently become a media feeding frenzy since Pope Benedict XVI became the first pontiff in nearly 600 years to resign on Feb. 28. In her blog, Sister Mary Ann Walsh, the director of media relations for the conference, wrote from her temporary office inside the Vatican that "La Repubblica newspaper on Thursday ran a story claiming revelations from the secret Vatican Report on Vatileaks. Meanwhile, a few Italian journalists apparently have the minutes of the General Congregation." "Stopping the leaks will be one challenge in a media culture which lives on leaks. It's just the way to do business here in Rome and has been for years." Vatileaks is the scandal surrounding papers that were stolen from the desk of Benedict XVI's office. The pope had three cardinals investigate the theft and that led to the conviction and later pardon of the pope's butler. Ever since, the media has been rife with rumors about financial and other corruption within the Vatican. Benedict declined to release the report, saying that decision was up to his successor. All of the 115 cardinal electors have taken an oath of secrecy to not reveal anything discussed in the General Congregations where they deal with talk about issues concerning the church and also qualities they seek in the new pope. Meanwhile, Cardinal Dolan, who was named on a Wednesday on a "Dirty Dozen" list by the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP), referred to the scandals plaguing the church in a comparison to Lent. "The church is dying as we mourn the passing of a beloved pope, as we die to what we recognize are some of the scandals and sins in the church that we've always had that are particularly under scrutiny now and then as we'll rise to a renewed life at Easter," Dolan said on his Papal Update Thursday on the Catholic Channel on Sirius radio. "That's what Lent is about but also with an arrival of a new pope there's always a sense of renewal and hope that comes in." Cardinal Dolan announced that he was starting on March 11 a nine-day novena to St. Joseph, "the protector of the church" and said he would like to see a new pope and "mass inaugurating his pontificate" on March 16, the feast day of St. Joseph. "What a great example he is to us that calmness, that serenity, that trust in divine providence," Cardinal Dolan said of St. Joseph. "What a beautiful buon esempio (good example) for the church now beset with a lot of difficulties scandals and crises but we need that calmness and that reflection and silence that St. Joseph was renown for." Cardinal Dolan said that extra sessions of the General Congregations on Thursday and again on Friday may hasten the start of the conclave. Meanwhile, work continues preparing the Sistine Chapel for the conclave. The USCCB press office was shown a video of conclave preparations, which included laying a floor in the Sistine Chapel, darkening windows and moving in a stove to burn ballots, Sister Mary Ann said. "We also saw men turning over the sod where a floral papal coat of arms had been planted in front of the Casa Santa Marta," Sister Mary Ann said. "Out goes the pope; out go his flowers. Wonder if new ones will be planted while waiting for the next pope."
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