Ratzinger 'faced strong challenge for papacy

Pope Benedict XVI faced a strong challenge for the papacy from an Argentine cardinal, a secret diary kept by a member of the conclave that elected him to the Holy See revealed today.

Fri, 23 Sep, 2005 - 21:35

Pope Benedict XVI faced a strong challenge for the papacy from an Argentine cardinal, a secret diary kept by a member of the conclave that elected him to the Holy See revealed today.

Excerpts of the diary, published in Italian foreign affairs magazine, Limes, revealed that Jorge Maria Bergoglio had been the main challenger to Germany’s Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger throughout each of the four ballots cast during the April 18-19 conclave at the Sistine Chapel.