Final cardinal expected in Rome ahead of vote on pope
ROME (CNN) -- The last cardinal summoned to choose the next pope is expected to arrive at the Vatican on Thursday, but the date for the election is not likely immediately to be set.
Over the past three days, the gathered cardinals have met to discuss the most serious questions facing the church.
Among them is how to tackle the scourge of child sex abuse by priests, which has shaken confidence in the church in recent years.
A Pew Research Center poll published Wednesday indicates U.S. Catholics see it as the biggest issue the Vatican faces.
Asked what they think is the most important problem, 34% of U.S. Catholics mention sex abuse, pedophilia or some other reference to the scandal. No other problem garners more than 10% of responses.
A report for Italian news magazine Panorama on Thursday claims the church hierarchy was alerted to the problem decades ago, in 1965, but buried the warnings.
A U.S.-based group representing alleged victims of sex abuse by priests Wednesday published a list of cardinals it doesn't want to see elected pope because of their handling of, or comments on, past allegations against clergy.
U.S. cardinals muzzled?
Italian media reports Thursday also focus on the Vatican's move to end the news briefings held this week by American cardinals, amid concerns over leaks of confidential discussions among the cardinals.
Sister Mary Ann Walsh, director of media relations for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, wrote in a blog post that the decision came after a media report in Italian daily La Stampa, which gave details of who had said what.
"I compared the shutdown to the old Catholic school style of one kid talks and everyone stays after school," she wrote, saying a similar thing happened before the last conclave, in 2005.
"We'll continue briefings, but without cardinals, to help U.S. media especially cover this exciting moment in the church," Walsh added.
With Easter around the corner, many inside the Catholic Church would like to see a new pontiff in place to lead ceremonies.
But the 115 cardinal-electors, those under ages 80 who are eligible to vote for the new pontiff, are taking time to prepare.
The last to join them in Rome is Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man of Vietnam, who Vatican officials said was due to arrive Thursday.
'Mix and mingle'
Since Monday, all the cardinals, including those older than 80, have been gathering for closed-door sessions known as general congregations.
They will gather twice on Thursday, in the morning and afternoon, as they seek to pick up the pace before setting the date for the conclave.
Some of the discussions happen over coffee, as one Vatican spokesman revealed Monday, the first day of the general congregations.
"There's a coffee break for about 30 minutes at a special buffet area in the front part of the audience hall," said the Rev. Thomas Rosica. "Cardinals have an opportunity to go down and mix and mingle."
"They want to say what the next pope will hear, because he's probably in that room, and they also want to alert the people who haven't spent so much time in Rome just what the situation really is here as they see it," Cardinal Francis George of Chicago said.
The electors also want to go into the conclave with pretty clear ideas about whom to vote for, Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston said. They, too, have no interest in seeing it drag on, and there is no reason to believe that it will.
The past 11 conclaves have lasted no longer than four days, the diocese of Providence, Rhode Island, wrote on its website.
That wasn't always the case. In the 13th century, the election of one pope took two years and nine months, the diocese said. Catholics grew so angry at the cardinals' indecision from 1268 to 1271, when Gregory X was elected, that they boarded them up in their chamber and tore off the roof to expose them to the elements.
The fiasco led to the creation of the conclave and its precise protocol -- partly to expedite the process.
CNN's Ben Brumfield and Hada Messia contributed to this report