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Whiff of scandal clouds Pope ceremony in Vatican
Pope Benedict XVI’s appointment of 22 new cardinals on Saturday takes place amid an atmosphere of scandal-mongering, rumour and media leaks from inside the Vatican.
The leaks concern alleged internal divisions and even malpractice among the senior bishops and cardinals at the heart of the Roman Catholic Church.
Most of the new cardinals will be granted the right to take part in the election of Pope Benedict’s successor.
It is the fourth Vatican Consistory since Benedict was elected Pope seven years ago, and is being held to bring the College of Cardinals to its full electoral quorum of 120, after deaths and age disqualifications depleted its numbers.
It must be the world’s oldest exclusively male club - the average age of members is 78.
The Italian contingent will grow to almost a quarter of the total - more than that of any other country and making it more likely that the next pope will be Italian, after the choice of a Pole and Benedict - a German - in recent decades.
The Pope’s Italian aide, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, has been instrumental in pushing Italians for promotion.
Key appointments among the new cardinals are the Archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, and the Bishop of Hong Kong, John Tong Hon.
