Brazilian Cardinals demand access to the Vatileaks dossier before the Conclave begins

The Cardinal Dom Geraldo Majella Agnelo, one of five Brazilians who will participate in the conclave, said yesterday that he will seek access to the secret report delivered to Pope Benedict containing information about scandals in the church.

This week, the Holy See said the dossier on the so-called Vatileaks case, compiled by three cardinals at the request of the pope now emeritus, will only be known to the new pontiff.

Dom Geraldo, retired archbishop of Salvador, said he was against secrecy and argued that the conclusions of the report should be given to all 115 voting cardinals before the Conclave.

"I think it should be, if we have a large file, as reported. Which can be done by the three cardinals before the conclave," he argued. "If there was a Commission and they had an opinion, we want to know."

According to Italian magazine "Panorama" and the newspaper "La Repubblica", the dossier describes a network of corruption and homosexual prostitution in the Holy See and this was instrumental in the abdication of the Pope.

The Vatican confirmed the existence of the report, but declined to release it to the press.

Cardinal Dom Raymundo Damasceno Assis, CNBB (Brazilian Bishops Conference) President and member of the conclave, told Folha that he expected to receive at least a summary of the text before voting. "The Cardinals should be aware of what is needed for the future."

"The important thing is to have a sense of what is fundamental in this document. Meanwhile, I'm just reading the newspapers."

Cardinal Scherer
Constantly cited among the likely replacements Pope Benedict Archbishop of São Paulo, Dom Odilo Scherer, said it is "fantasy" to think that there are already candidates for Pope but rather that specific ideas could only start with meetings between the Cardinals.

"To saying that, before the conclave, the candidates are already ready, is part of the fantasy - that we understand very well, but is not the reality of significance, going forward with the work of the College of Cardinals," he told Radio Vatican.

"In a few days, the cardinals will begin to meet (...) in a great awareness of the situation of the church." "Of course, in the midst of all these considerations, we will be also putting a profile to the one who should assume the role of Peter's successor."

Dom Geraldo said he had five possible candidates in mind and that the Conclave, scheduled for early March, will begin with no favorites. "Now we have no one that stands out. They are all more or less at the same level."

Source
How Cardinal Scherer celebrates Mass.

 How Cardinal Assis celebrates Mass (only to be seen by those with strong physical and spiritual
constitutions)
 

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