Pope to Appoint 22 New Cardinals Amid Vatican Scramble for Power

By Nick Squires
The Telegraph
February 17, 2012

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/vaticancityandholysee/9089779/Pope-to-appoint-22-new-cardinals-amid-Vatican-scramble-for-power.html

The Pope will appoint 22 new cardinals in a lavish ceremony at the Vatican on Saturday, against a backdrop of leaks, back-stabbing and jostling for power in the Holy See.

Pope Benedict XVI looks out over St. Peter's Square

The new appointees will join an elite group of cardinals who will have the task of electing the next Pope on the death of Benedict XVI, who turns 85 in April.

Seven of the new "princes of the church" are Italian, making the prospect of the German Pope being succeeded by an Italian pontiff more likely, Vatican observers said.

Their election will increase to 67 the number of "elector cardinals" who are from Europe, against 22 from Latin America, 21 from Africa and Asia and 15 from North America.

Of the European cardinals, 30 will be Italian.

The appointments come after a torrid few weeks for the Holy See, with claims of corruption and nepotism, questions over the transparency of the Vatican bank and murky reports of an assassination plot within the next 12 months against Benedict.

The leaks and rumour-mongering in the normally staid institution have suggested that a power struggle is going on, most notably between Tarcisio Bertone, 77, the powerful Secretary of State and Vatican no.2, and a cabal of disaffected cardinals.

The Vatican's gendarmerie police force is reportedly investigating the reports of an assassination plot, which were sourced to an Italian archbishop's visit to China in November.

Other leaks have involved allegations of corruption in the awarding of contracts for the running of the tiny city state, and accusations of money laundering at the Vatican bank, known as the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR).

Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, a whistleblower who revealed wasteful practises, cronyism and nepotism in the Vatican administration, was promptly removed and transferred to Washington as the Pope's nuncio, or ambassador.

Between 2009 and 2011 he was the deputy governor of the city state's administration, which manages everything from the Vatican Museums and Secret Archives to the post office and upkeep of buildings.

Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, issued unusually robust criticism of the flurry of leaks this week, condemning as "disloyal" whoever was divulging confidential information.

He compared the unauthorised release of sometimes embarrassing information to the WikiLeaks scandal that caused headaches for governments around the world, and said the leaks had created "confusion and bewilderment", throwing the Holy See into "a bad light".

L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican's daily newspaper, used stronger language, criticising as "wolves" those within the Catholic Church who were trying to discredit Benedict's papacy with "irresponsible and undignified behaviour".