Vow of secrecy goes up in smoke

WHATEVER happened to the sacred oath of secrecy?

Cardinals were sworn to silence about everything that happened during deliberations in the Sistine Chapel to choose a new pope. But within hours of the conclave, some German cardinals delighted about the choice of their countryman, Joseph Ratzinger spilled some of the secrets.

Cardinal Joachim Meisner told reporters the new Pope Benedict XVI was elected on the fourth ballot the first of the afternoon session.

There was spontaneous applause as soon as cardinals realised Cardinal Ratzinger had won, Cardinal Meisner said.

"And I burst out crying," he added.

Cardinal Meisner also gave a few clues about the new pope's reaction on being named. He said Benedict XVI looked "a little forlorn" when he went to change into his papal vestments in the Room of Tears which earned its nickname because many new pontiffs get choked up there, realising the enormity of their mission.

"I was worried, because when he came back dressed in his white vestments, I thought he had forgotten his skullcap," Cardinal Meisner said. "But then I realised his hair is as white as his skullcap."

Cardinal Meisner added: "By the time dinner came around, Ratzinger was looking much better and very much like the Pope."

The new Pope asked cardinals to dine together on bean soup, cold cuts, a salad and fruit, Cardinal Meisner said. The nuns who prepare their meals didn't have time to plan a special menu, so there were only two special treats ice cream and champagne.

Some US cardinals also offered insight about why the vote went to Cardinal Ratzinger.

Philadelphia's Cardinal Justin Rigali said the cardinals in the conclave thought about what John Paul II had accomplished.

"We were looking for a successor of [St] Peter," the first pope, Cardinal Rigali said. "We were looking for a successor of John Paul II. All of us were talking about the incredible qualities of John Paul II, knowing the world is calling him 'The Great'."

Irish bookmakers Paddy Power have taken bets on John Paul's successor for the past five years.

Minutes after Benedict XVI appeared in St Peter's Square, Paddy Power was collecting or paying out on more than 10,000 bets totalling more than 200,000.

"We were kind of hoping the conclave would run for two weeks," said a spokesman.

Germany reacted uncertainly to the choice of a native son as Pope, as pride mingled with doubts about the fact that the arch-conservative theologian does not reflect the country's self-image as secular, liberal and progressive.

"We are the Pope! It's a thousand-year sensation!" blared best-selling tabloid Bild, removing the usual bare-breasted model from page one in deference to the new pontiff.

But irreverent left-wing daily Tageszeitung took the opposite view, blacking out the entire front page apart from the words: "Joseph Ratzinger new Pope. Oh, my God!"

The new Pope's own brother, Georg, told ARD television he was taken aback by the news.

"I was shocked, that's right I'd thought that his age and not very stable health were a reason for the cardinals to choose someone else," he said.

That the spiritual and moral authority of the papacy should be wielded by a German, 60 years after the Nazi Holocaust and World War II, is an idea that would once have been unthinkable.

"Many did not believe such a thing possible after the terrible events which began from Germany and which can still be felt," German Catholic Cardinal Karl Lehmann said.

"It is therefore an important sign of Germany's ultimate return into the worldwide community of peoples which is also reflected in the Catholic Church This can give our country heart in many respects."