Geoff Bennett:
Black smoke poured today from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, as 133 cardinals from across the globe began in earnest the process of selecting the next pontiff.
As expected, the smoke signifies the cardinals could not reach a two-thirds consensus on the first ballot. Before the vote, church leaders gathered for a final mass. Then, with a ceremonial Latin declaration, the chapel was cleared, the doors were closed, and the group began one of the most secretive elections in the world.
The cardinals will be considering a number of difficult and sometimes divisive issues. Survivors have also called on the cardinals to consider the history of sexual abuse and the church’s conduct in the past,when crimes have been covered up and priests have too often been protected.
Peter Isely, a founding member of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is in Rome. He spoke to us as the conclave began about demanding accountability and a new path forward that his group calls zero tolerance.
Peter Isely, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests: Zero tolerance means two things. One, any priest or cleric where it has been determined that he has sexually assaulted or abused a child is permanently removed from the priesthood.
Secondly, zero tolerance means accountability. It means that any church official, cardinal, or bishop that has been again determined after investigation that he has covered up sexual abuse crimes of children, that he has obstructed justice in the countries where these crimes are occurring, that he can no longer function as an authority or an official in the Catholic Church.
