Dinner parties, listening and lobbying. What goes on behind closed doors to elect a pope

ROME – Rome is bustling with jasmine blooming and tourists swarming, but down closed doors these are the days of meal parties, java klatches and backstage meetings arsenic cardinals successful municipality to elect a successor to Pope Francis suss retired who among them has the stuff to beryllium next.

It was successful this play of pre-conclave huddling successful March of 2013 that Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the retired archbishop of Westminster, and different reform-minded Europeans began pushing the candidacy of an Argentine Jesuit named Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Their meal array lobbying worked and Pope Francis won connected the 5th ballot.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols whitethorn person inherited Murphy-O’Connor’s presumption arsenic archbishop of Westminster, but he's not taking connected the occupation arsenic the front-man papal lobbyist successful these days of canvassing of cardinals to effort to place who among them should beryllium the adjacent pope.

“We’re of rather antithetic styles,” Nichols said Friday, chuckling during an interrogation successful the Venerable English College, the storied British seminary successful downtown Rome wherever helium studied successful the 1960s. “Cardinal Cormac would emotion to beryllium astatine the halfway of the party. I’m a small much reserved than that and a small spot much introverted.”

Nevertheless, Nichols, 79, provided an insiders' presumption of what's going connected among his chap cardinal-electors — betwixt meals of Rome's celebrated carbonara — arsenic they get to cognize 1 different aft bidding farewell to the pope who made 108 of them “princes of the church.”

Nichols says helium is spending these days earlier his archetypal conclave listening, arsenic cardinals conscionable each greeting successful a Vatican auditorium to sermon the needs of the Catholic Church and the benignant of idiosyncratic who tin pb it. These meetings are unfastened to each cardinals, including those implicit 80, portion the conclave itself successful the Sistine Chapel is constricted to cardinals who haven't yet reached 80.

‘Not a boys’ brigade that marches successful step’

Nichols said a representation of the aboriginal pope is opening to form, astatine slightest successful his mind, arsenic cardinals look backmost astatine Francis’ 12-year pontificate and spot wherever to spell from present erstwhile they begin voting connected Wednesday.

“I accidental we’re looking for idiosyncratic who adjacent successful their mode not lone expresses the extent of the faith, but besides its openness arsenic well,” said Nichols.

Pope Benedict XVI named Nichols archbishop of Westminster successful 2009 but helium didn't go a cardinal until 2014, erstwhile Francis tapped him successful his archetypal batch of cardinals. Francis went connected to sanction Nichols arsenic a subordinate of respective important Vatican offices, including the almighty dicastery for bishops, which vets bishop nominations astir the world.

“My acquisition truthful far, to beryllium rather honorable with you, is there’s a batch of attentive listening,” Nichols said. “That’s listening to the radical who mightiness person an thought contiguous of who they deliberation is the champion candidate, and I wouldn’t beryllium amazed if by Monday they mightiness person changed their mind.”

Nichols said the representation that is emerging is of seeing Francis’ pontificate successful continuity with the much doctrinaire papacies of St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI, and of appreciating the multicultural world of the Catholic Church today. Francis greatly expanded the College of Cardinals to see cardinals from far-flung places similar Tonga and Mongolia, alternatively than conscionable the accepted centers of European Catholicism.

Yes, divisions and disagreements person been aired. “But I tin ne'er retrieve a clip erstwhile Catholics each agreed astir everything,” Nichols said.

“We’re not a boys’ brigade that marches successful step.” But helium said helium sensed that cardinals judge Francis’ reforming papacy and extremist telephone to prioritize the mediocre and marginalized, to attraction for the planet and each its people, needed further consolidating with different papacy.

“There’s a consciousness that the initiatives that this antheral of specified originality took, they astir apt bash request rooting a spot much to springiness them that stableness and evident continuity,” Nichols said. “So that these aren’t conscionable the ideas of 1 person, 1 charismatic person, but they are really consistently portion of however the religion reflects connected humanity, our ain humanity and our world.”

‘Team Bergoglio’

In his publication “The Great Reformer,” Francis' biographer Austen Ivereigh described the 2013 predetermination of Francis and however Nichols' predecessor, Murphy-O'Connor and different reform-minded Europeans wrong the College of Cardinals seized the accidental to propulsion Bergoglio aft it was wide the Italians were warring among themselves implicit the Italian candidate, splitting their vote.

“Team Bergoglio,” arsenic these reform-minded cardinals came to beryllium known, had tried to speech up Bergoglio successful the 2005 conclave, but failed to get their antheral done aft Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s momentum grew and Bergoglio bowed out.

In 2013, with galore excessively aged to ballot successful the conclave itself, “Team Bergoglio” talked up the Argentine astatine meal parties astir Rome successful the days earlier the conclave to effort to guarantee the Argentine could unafraid astatine slightest 25 votes connected the archetypal ballot to found himself arsenic a superior candidate, the publication said.

“The Great Reformer” recounts a meal enactment astatine the North American College, the U.S. seminary successful Rome, connected March 5, 2013 to which Murphy-O’Connor and Australian Cardinal George Pell were invited and wherever the British cardinal talked up Bergoglio’s name.

“He held a fig of these dinners, and I deliberation determination were a fewer of them involved, a fewer who had grown convinced that Bergoglio was what the religion needed,” Ivereigh said Friday.

Nichols doesn’t person immoderate specified calculations oregon candidate, astatine slightest that helium is consenting to divulge.

“For me, it’s nary bully going into a conclave reasoning it’s similar a governmental predetermination and I privation my broadside to win. I’m not going to bash that,” helium said. “I’m going to spell successful surely with my ain thoughts but acceptable to alteration them, to perceive and possibly effort and transportation others to alteration theirs too.”

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