Show Cardinals Begin Period of Media Silence Daniel Williams Alan Cooperman The Washington Post The cardinals who are gathered here hereto to elect a new pope agreed Saturday to stop talking to the media following a week in which they publicly debated whether to name a pontiff who is as much like Pope John Paul II H as possible or someone quite different The Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro Vails Navarro Navarro- Valls announced that the cardinals cardinals cardinals cardi cardi- nals had begun a period of more intense silence and prayer I They deci decided a unanimously t ly to to t avoid Ji J int interviews anc and meetings with the media medja ia This should not be interpreted as a snub to the media but a gesture of great responsibility Valls Navarro-Valls said The cardinals had already taken an oath not to divulge what happens in their pre-conclave pre meetings But outside of the meetings many of them including several from the American contingent freely spoke about issues facing the Catholic Church and its next pope For example Latin American prelates called for a pope from their region Some European cardinals urged the election of ofa a pontiff who would grant more autonomy autonomy autonomy my to bishops During the conclave which begins April 18 secrecy will tighten cally The cardinals will be sequestered in Vatican City and prohibited from having having having hav hav- ing contact with anyone outside A total of cardinals under the age of 80 are eligible to vote But church officials said Saturday that two of them Cardinals Jaime Sin of Manila and Adolfo Antonio Suarez Rivera of Monterrey Mexico are ill iII and will not attend The new gag rule showed the influence influence influence ence of German Cardinal Joseph the dean of the College of Cardinals and the enforcer of doctrinal discipline for the late pope an aide to toone one of the cardinals said It was he who brought this s. s bout the h id ts i t- t rt nt The Th cardinals cardinals' lin have av been asked not to have interviews with an anyone orie s sail Cardinal Eugenio de Araujo Sales the former archbishop of Rio de Janeiro who was willing to break the ban only to discuss it A period of silence has begun The decision was not mine Wendy Reardon author of The Deaths of the Popes said the silencing was unprecedented but so was the amount of interaction between cardinals and the media last week Normally the complete secrecy does not begin until they're in the conclave This is the first time they've been hushed up in advance she said The ban does not apply to church Key cardinals are scheduled to extol John Pauls Paul's virtues in eulogies at daily Masses from now until the con con- clave In the up run-up to past conclaves Vatican insiders and the media parsed these statements for clues to what was going on in the cardinals' cardinals private discus discus- There was little to go on in Saturdays Saturday's homily Cardinal Francesco Marchisa o a friend of John Pauls Paul's stuck to reminiscences reminiscences about him Might I dare say we weare weare weare are not saying a Mass for the popes pope's soul because by this time God will already have rewarded him infinitely in heaven said t I the the i f cardinals cardinals cardinals' f i r i Li f 4 were were still l tt ff talking U ng v O to the media one of the em emerging divisi divi- divi si nsW was s b between v t en those hoping for a pope in the image of John Paul and those seeking a break from the recent past Indonesian an Cardinal Julius the archbishop of Jakarta said Thursday that We hope the man they appoint will be more or orless orless orless less like John Paul II Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington said in an interview Wednesday I think if you asked most of the cardinals they'd say give us a young John Paul II not as ashe ashe ashe he was in the last three or four years give us a healthy vigorous John Paul II again On the other hand Cardinal Bernard Law who was archbishop of Boston before resigning two years ago over his handling of child sexual abuse by priests told ABC News that John Paul was such a charismatic pope that it would be a major mistake to try to clone him And New Yorks York's Cardinal Edward Egan said Thursday that Whoever is named comes in with whatever he is He would be very poorly advised to try to be Pope John Paul If II or Pope Paul VI or John or anybody other than himself When Catholic leaders say they want another pope like John Paul they are placing a high priority on personal the charisma human face that the pope from behind the Iron Curtain put on the church said Rocco Buttiglione an Italian politician philosopher and close friend of the late pope I t think i the next pope should be very similar to John Paul II H not in his poli policies ies not even in his philosophy but in in 10 the core of his personality Buttiglione said Tho Those e who call for a pope in John Paul Pauls Paul's s image also say it is vital to take a firm line on doctrinal matters and to evangelize in his tireless style During his i 2 year veaT Papacy John Paul attended attend attend- ed ed giant Y World Youth Day celebratIons celebrations and visited countries Those S who h call for a different kind of nf pontiff say the Church needs an attentive hi manager even if it means that hat he can do uca less traveling and writ- writ T mg ing John It Paul UI by his WS own wn admission often left the Vatican ItS Us V- V bureaucracy t to own devices PerhaPs I should reproach to do myself for not having tried enough to command he wrote last year in his fourth book Us Be Rise Let on Our Way that Some church officials complain the vr Vatican's S or departments have ossified doms into fiefdoms fief fief- in oms 10 which the top officials must off sign on inconsequential decisions See Cardinals continued on page 10 Cardinals continued from page 4 and only they are allowed to communicate with other departments McCarrick said there is some truth to the charge that John Paul did not constantly stay on top of the work in the Vatican offices known as the curia This Holy Father felt that evangelization was one of the most important things that he wanted to do and he wanted to todo todo todo do it personally and he did it so well When one does that well obviously when youre you're in Africa youre you're not in Rome And if youre you're in America youre you're not in Rome he said The late pope appointed allbut allbut all allbut but three of the voting cardinals cardinals cardinals cardi cardi- nals and his long reign and vigorous style hang prominently over the process of finding a successor Yet continuity continuity continuity conti conti- is not ensured History shows that after long papacies the pope who follows usually takes a very different turn said Christopher Bellitto a historian an of Catholicism at Kean University in Union NJ Pius IX who ruled from 1846 to 1878 feared revolutionaries revolutionaries revolutionaries and striking workers He was followed by Leo XIII who embraced labor rights The authoritarian Pius XII who reigned from 1939 to 1958 was followed by the open-minded open John who convened the Second Vatican Council and brought sweeping change Italians have an expression for the tendency to choose a pope who will counterbalance his predecessor Fat pope thin pope they say |