The publication of two new books has intensified the Vatican leaks scandal and highlight the struggles of Pope Francis as he tries to reform the sprawling bureaucracy, writes Nicole Winfield

A reigning pope and a former pope faced each other for the first time in at least 600 years on Saturday when Pope Francis travelled south of Rome for lunch with his predecessor, pope emeritus Benedict XVI.

Cardinals filed into the Vatican for preliminary meetings to sketch a profile for the next pope and ponder who among them might be best to lead a church beset by crises.

The Vatican’s second in command accused the media of trying “to imitate Dan Brown” in their coverage of the VatiLeaks scandal and said the Roman Catholic Church’s latest travails were part of the Devil’s attempt to destabilise it.