ROME
The Globe and Mail (Canada)
ERIC REGULY
ROME — The Globe and Mail
Published Tuesday, Mar. 05 2013
Rome is full of unusual sights as the machine to select the next pope rolls forward. Italians and 5,000 members of the media have seen gaggles of cardinals scurrying across St. Peter’s Square en route to pre-conclave meetings. They have seen the next pope’s fresh wardrobe – in three sizes, depending on his dimensions – on full display at an ecclesiastical tailor’s shop.
Perhaps the most unusual sight on Tuesday took place on the auditorium stage of the Pontifical North American College, on the leafy Janiculum Hill overlooking the Vatican. Seated next to one another were two live-wire American cardinals, Sean O’Malley of Boston and Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston.
Why was the event unusual? Because cardinals almost never talk to the press during the pre-conclave congregation meetings. Traditionally, selecting a pope is a highly secretive process. Details of who says what in the meetings, who is up and who is down, goes to the grave with them. Even talking in general terms about the conclave process is rare, or at least was until now.
Neither man looks remotely like a cardinal. Sporting a brown hooded robe and white rope belt, Cardinal O’Malley was dressed like a Franciscan. Cardinal DiNardo was all in black, like a simple, though elegant, priest. They were taking questions from the mob of reporters about the conclave process (though careful not to break their oaths of secrecy) and having fun.
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