Computer hackers, electronic bugs and supersensitive microphones threaten to pierce the Vatican’s thick walls next week when cardinals gather in the Sistine Chapel to name a papal successor.
Spying has gotten a lot more sophisticated since the pope was elected in 1978, but the Vatican seems confident it can protect the centuries-old tradition of secrecy that surrounds the gathering.
Vatican security refused to discuss the details of any anti-bugging measures to be used during the conclave. But Giuseppe Mazzullo, a private detective and retired Rome police officer whose former unit worked closely with the Vatican in the past, said the Holy See will reinforce its own experts with Italian police and private security contractors.
“The security is very strict,” Mazzullo said. “For people to steal information, it’s very, very difficult if not impossible.”
Thousands of reporters will be watching as the 115 cardinals gather on April 18. Hackers and government informants also may be monitoring the conclave.
Meanwhile, on Monday, Cardinal Bernard Law presided over a mass in mourning for the pope, a few hours after Italian police broke up a peaceful demonstration by two American victims of sex abuse who were protesting the Vatican’s choice of Law for the honor.
Barbara Blaine of Chicago, president of the 5,000-member Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said she flew to Rome because of an “outpouring of outrage in the United States” after the announcement last week that Law would be the only American cardinal to lead one of nine special masses for the late pope at St. Peter’s Basilica. Law resigned as archbishop of Boston in 2002 after mishandling molestation cases.
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Compiled from news services and edited by Patrick Olsen (polsen@tribune.com) and Victoria Rodriguez (vrodriguez@tribune.com)
