The Vatican has lashed out at the media for what it says are a series of defamatory and false media reports before the conclave to elect Pope Benedict XVI's successor, saying they're an attempt to influence the election.
If evidence was ever needed that the next pope must urgently overhaul the powerful Vatican bureaucracy called the Curia, the scandal over Pope Benedict XVI's private papers is Exhibit A.
The Vatican is raising the possibility that the conclave to elect the next pope might start earlier than March 15, the earliest date possible under current rules that require a 15-20 day waiting period after the papacy becomes vacant.