Dinners, conspiracies and pressures: how the pope's election was woven

A new book reveals the details of the development of the conclave that catapulted Bergoglio in March 2013 to the pontificate

NEW YORK.- Six years and a month after the conclave that determined the arrival of Pedro Bergoglio, the first Latin American and Jesuit pope, to the throne of Pedro, a book published today in the United States (
The choice of

dad Francisco

: an intimate story of the conclave that changed the story) reveals how this event has been one of the world's most secretive.

According to various sources – cardinals who revealed the pontifical secret – the veteran Iranian Vaticanist Gerard O. Connell, correspondent of the Jesuit magazine
America Magazine, reconstructed here how the Archbishop of Buenos Aires of the time was elected.

At the age of 76 and on the verge of retirement, few would have thought of Papal Bergoglio. In this book, O 'Connell tells what has happened since the resignation of Benedict XVI until March 19, 2013, the day of Francisco's inauguration. Describe the shock of cardinal electors following Benoît's resignation; the anti-Italian climate after the scandal by the flight of reserved letters and the lack of preparation. Unlike the 2005 conclave, after the death of John Paul II, the Cardinals were not ready, had not campaigned and had no such powerful candidate as Joseph Ratzinger.

O & # 39; Connell describes how, behind the scenes, some cardinals have tried to push certain names. And he reveals meetings, dinners in
trattorias Romans and meetings in the departments of Cardinals. At the beginning of a conclave marked by uncertainty, March 12, for O'Connell, the letters were already asked so that, for the first time, the papacy could cross the Atlantic. Although few badysts have taken it into account, Bergoglio had good references: he had been the second most voted in 2005, behind Ratzinger. Having participated in this conclave, he was known by 68 of the 115 cardinal electors. His role in the Latin America Bishops' meeting in Aparecida, Brazil (2007) was also instrumental.

The Italian press had predicted that it was Cardinal Angelo Scola – then archbishop of Milan, good conservative theologian and Benedict's dolphin – the candidate for the
post the position. But O. Connell, who was planning the election of Bergoglio, made some calculations when he realized that Scola did not have the support of the 27 other Italians participating in the event. Election, totally divided. Bergoglio, meanwhile, relied on the cross support of some Italian cardinals – who met the night before his imprisonment "locked up" to dine on that of Cardinal Attilio Nicora – Latin America, Europe and Asia.

From the first vote, in the afternoon of March 12 in the Sistine Chapel, the potential of the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, who had obtained 26 votes, was clear. It was the second most voted party after Scola (30), far less than had been speculated. He was followed by the Canadian Marc Ouellet (22), conservative prelate, candidate in principle of the North American bloc; the American Capuchin Sean O 'Malley (10); the Brazilian Odilo Scherer (4), and others who won two or one vote, including the Argentinian Leonardo Sandri (1).

After a night in which cardinals, secretly in the residence of Santa Marta, gathered in small groups and conspired, the next morning, March 13, the candidacy of Cardinal of Buenos Aires took off. During the second examination, he pbaded Scola and conquered a front he would never give up: Bergoglio, 45; Scola, 38 years old; Ouellet, 24, and O Malley, 3 years old. In the third, he added votes and reached 56, before 41 Scola and 14 Ouellet. "It seemed that the Americans and maybe a little more during the third vote had changed their preference from Ouellet to Bergoglio," said O. Connell. The author reveals that after this vote, Scola, who understood that the desire for a change of continent for the papacy was already unstoppable, asked the block that supported it to support his Argentine rival.

At lunch in Santa Marta, some cardinals who did not want the Jesuit to boycott him. How In trying to spread information that he has only one lung (actually, a right lung lobe was removed, at age 21), he raises his alleged complicity with the dictatorship. It is the Honduran cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga who took the initiative to deny it. After this lunch, the future Pope slept.

In the fourth election of the afternoon, the Archbishop of Buenos Aires approached the 77 votes necessary to be elected (the equivalent of two-thirds of the 115): Bergoglio, 67; Scola, 32 years old; Ouellet, 13 years old; Vallini, 2, and O 'Malley, 1. In this scrutiny, the surprise was the entrance of a new name: the Italian Agostino Vallini, then curate of Rome. "Did that mean that someone at the last minute wanted to block Bergoglio's path to the papacy, no matter what the reason, a futile gesture," writes O. Connell.

The fifth vote must have been canceled because the ballot paper of one cardinal was glued to another. Finally, Francisco was elected in the sixth round of voting with 8 votes more than necessary: ​​85. There remained Scola with 20; Ouellet, 8, and Vallini, 2 years old.

O & # 39; Connell explained that in full jubilation of the participants, everyone was not happy: "It will be a disaster," said Slovenian cardinal Frank Rodé. After the applause, Bergoglio got up and went to hug Scola.