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ANSA English Media Service
April 13, 2005
FRAILTIES WHISPERED ALONG VATICAN CORRIDORS
by Denis Greenan
Vatican City
(ANSA) - Vatican City, April 13 - Vatican corridors allegedly fill
with whispers of frailties before the election of a new pope - and the
lull before next week's conclave is no exception, Vatican watchers
told the Italian press this week.
The so-called 'papabili', or favourites for the post, are not
required to present a medical report as qualification for the job -
but there's always somebody ready, insiders say, to recall physical or
emotional ills that could bar the path to St Peter's throne.
For Vatican experts, the whispering campaign bears comparison to
the so-called stylum Curiae or 'dagger of the Curia' which killed the
bids of so many confident candidates over the centuries.
When the going gets tough, and the interests of the Church press
close at heart, some cardinals or their minders leave their scruples
at home, it has been suggested.
Suddenly there's talk of a nervous breakdown suffered many years
ago, or the Parkinson's Disease that crippled the last pope, or heart
operations, brain tumours and other debilitating conditions cardinals
swear they have recovered from.
This year an Asian papabile is said to be bound in an orthopedic
corset that limits his mobility, while a South American favourite is
being linked to the dread word diabetes, an ailment known to make
sufferers moody and temperamental.
But this rumour may already have been exploded: the cardinal in
question was seen eating lustily just the other day - as was the
future John XXIII when the same illness was linked to him before the
1958 conclave.
In fact, to put the whisperers firmly in their place, Cardinal
Angelo Roncalli, as he was then, made a point of publicly munching
sweet desserts in the run-up to the conclave.
But doubts and daggers have been wielded more effectively on at
least one occasion.
In 1963 Cardinal Krikor Boutros Agaganian of Armenia was said to
be a hot tip, having run Roncalli close five years earlier.
But Armenia was part of the Soviet Union, and an Italian secret
service slur about the cardinal's sister being a spy was enough to
sink the Armenian's candidature.
Fifteen years later, one of the two Italian favourites wrote a
tirade that was only supposed to be published once the conclave doors
had been sealed.
Instead, it came out during the horse trading and reportedly
sealed his fate - along with that of his chief rival, suspected of
releasing the hard-hitting document.
The suicidal clash between the top Italians opened the way for a
consensus to build around a compromise candidate from Poland, Karol
Woytila - soon to achieve greatness as John Paul II.
April 13, 2005
FRAILTIES WHISPERED ALONG VATICAN CORRIDORS
by Denis Greenan
Vatican City
(ANSA) - Vatican City, April 13 - Vatican corridors allegedly fill
with whispers of frailties before the election of a new pope - and the
lull before next week's conclave is no exception, Vatican watchers
told the Italian press this week.
The so-called 'papabili', or favourites for the post, are not
required to present a medical report as qualification for the job -
but there's always somebody ready, insiders say, to recall physical or
emotional ills that could bar the path to St Peter's throne.
For Vatican experts, the whispering campaign bears comparison to
the so-called stylum Curiae or 'dagger of the Curia' which killed the
bids of so many confident candidates over the centuries.
When the going gets tough, and the interests of the Church press
close at heart, some cardinals or their minders leave their scruples
at home, it has been suggested.
Suddenly there's talk of a nervous breakdown suffered many years
ago, or the Parkinson's Disease that crippled the last pope, or heart
operations, brain tumours and other debilitating conditions cardinals
swear they have recovered from.
This year an Asian papabile is said to be bound in an orthopedic
corset that limits his mobility, while a South American favourite is
being linked to the dread word diabetes, an ailment known to make
sufferers moody and temperamental.
But this rumour may already have been exploded: the cardinal in
question was seen eating lustily just the other day - as was the
future John XXIII when the same illness was linked to him before the
1958 conclave.
In fact, to put the whisperers firmly in their place, Cardinal
Angelo Roncalli, as he was then, made a point of publicly munching
sweet desserts in the run-up to the conclave.
But doubts and daggers have been wielded more effectively on at
least one occasion.
In 1963 Cardinal Krikor Boutros Agaganian of Armenia was said to
be a hot tip, having run Roncalli close five years earlier.
But Armenia was part of the Soviet Union, and an Italian secret
service slur about the cardinal's sister being a spy was enough to
sink the Armenian's candidature.
Fifteen years later, one of the two Italian favourites wrote a
tirade that was only supposed to be published once the conclave doors
had been sealed.
Instead, it came out during the horse trading and reportedly
sealed his fate - along with that of his chief rival, suspected of
releasing the hard-hitting document.
The suicidal clash between the top Italians opened the way for a
consensus to build around a compromise candidate from Poland, Karol
Woytila - soon to achieve greatness as John Paul II.