(Vatican Radio) Please find below a Vatican Radio translation of a Secretary of
State communiqué on conclave, issued Saturday:
“The freedom of the College
of Cardinals, which alone, under the law, is responsible for the election of the Roman
Pontiff, has always been strongly defended by the Holy See, as a guarantee of a choice
based on evaluations solely for the good of the Church.
Over the centuries,
the Cardinals have faced multiple forms of pressure exerted on the individual voters
and the same College, with the aim of conditioning decisions, to bend them to a political
or worldly logic.
If in the past the it was the so-called superpowers, namely
States, who sought to condition the election of the Pope in their favour, today there
is an attempt to apply the weight of public opinion, often on the basis of assessments
that fail to capture the spiritual aspect of this moment in the life of the Church.
It
is regrettable that, as we draw near to the beginning of the Conclave when Cardinal
electors shall be bound in conscience and before God, to freely express their choice,
news reports abound which are often unverified or not verifiable, or even false, even
subsequent damage to people and institutions.
It is in moments such as these,
that Catholics are called to focus on what is essential: to pray for Pope Benedict,
to pray that the Holy Spirit enlighten the College of Cardinals, to pray for the future
Pope, trusting that the fate of the barque of St. Peter is in the hands of God".