Conclave to choose the next leader of the Catholic Church is set to begin
The solemn process of selecting a new pope is set to begin on Wednesday (May 7) at the Vatican as 133 cardinals prepare to enter into seclusion for the conclave. In the afternoon, they will form a procession to enter the Sistine Chapel and take their solemn oath of secrecy. Everyone not involved in the conclave will then be ordered to leave and the chapel doors will be closed. The first vote may be cast in the evening. Trent Murray reports from Rome.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Straits Times
Women who survived Spain's Franco-era centres disrupt Catholic apology
The President of Spanish Confederation of Religious Entities (CONFER), Jesus Diaz Sariego, speaks during a ceremony to apologise to the survivors of Catholic moral rehabilitation institutes in Spain, where thousands of women and girls suffered harsh treatment during Franco's dictatorship, in Madrid, Spain, June 9, 2025. REUTERS/Juan Medina Paca Blanco, 76, a survivor, reacts before a ceremony by the Spanish Confederation of Religious Entities (CONFER) to apologise to the survivors of Catholic moral rehabilitation institutes in Spain, where thousands of women and girls suffered harsh treatment during Franco's dictatorship, in Madrid, Spain, June 9, 2025. REUTERS/Juan Medina Mariaje Lopez, 67, a survivor, sits before a ceremony by the Spanish Confederation of Religious Entities (CONFER) to apologise to the survivors of Catholic moral rehabilitation institutes in Spain, where thousands of women and girls suffered harsh treatment during Franco's dictatorship, in Madrid, Spain, June 9, 2025. REUTERS/Juan Medina Consuelo Garcia del Cid, 66, a survivor and advocate for the cause, reacts before a ceremony by the Spanish Confederation of Religious Entities (CONFER) to apologise to the survivors of Catholic moral rehabilitation institutes in Spain, where thousands of women and girls suffered harsh treatment during Franco's dictatorship, in Madrid, Spain, June 9, 2025. REUTERS/Juan Medina Yolanda Morales Pereira holds a photo of her late mother, Maria de los Angeles Morales Pereira who was in one of the rehabilitation centers, during a ceremony by the Spanish Confederation of Religious Entities (CONFER) to apologise to the survivors of Catholic moral rehabilitation institutes in Spain, where thousands of women and girls suffered harsh treatment during Franco's dictatorship, in Madrid, Spain, June 9, 2025. REUTERS/Juan Medina Dozens of women, among them survivors, activists, and family members, shout \"True, justice and reparation,\" as many of them hold a sign reading \"No\" close to Spanish Equality Minister Ana Redondo Garcia, during a ceremony by the Spanish Confederation of Religious Entities (CONFER) to apologise to the survivors of Catholic moral rehabilitation institutes in Spain, where thousands of women and girls suffered harsh treatment during Franco's dictatorship, in Madrid, Spain, June 9, 2025. REUTERS/Juan Medina Dozens of women, among them survivors, activists, and family members, shout \"True, justice and reparation,\" as many of them hold a sign reading \"No\" during a ceremony by the Spanish Confederation of Religious Entities (CONFER) to apologise to the survivors of Catholic moral rehabilitation institutes in Spain, where thousands of women and girls suffered harsh treatment during Franco's dictatorship, in Madrid, Spain, June 9, 2025. REUTERS/Juan Medina MADRID - Spanish women who were forced into rehabilitation centres during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco broke up a Catholic meeting held to offer them a apology and demanded more concrete reparation from the church and state. Protesters - including survivors in their 60s and 70s, activists and relatives - held up banners marked "No" during the event on Monday night, threw the signs into the audience and forced organisers to suspend the meeting. Thousands of girls and young women who were accused of perceived moral failings - from pregnancies outside marriage to left-wing activism - were put into state-run Catholic rehabilitation institutions for periods during Franco's rule, from the 1940s up to a decade after his death into the 1980s. A Catholic body that includes most of the communities of nuns that helped operate some of the centres held a ceremony to ask the women for forgiveness in the Pablo VI Foundation auditorium in Madrid, the first event of its kind in Spain. The President of the Spanish Confederation of Religious Entities (CONFER) read out an apology then invited survivors to come to the stage as a video of them describing their experiences was shown. After the film, which was often drowned out by cheers and cries of "Yes, we can", people in the crowd jumped to their feet and started shouting "truth, justice and reparation," and "neither forget nor forgive". CONFER officials turned on the lights, abruptly ended the event and later said they may issue a statement in response on Tuesday. The confrontation underlined the depth of feeling over the Patronato de Proteccion a la Mujer (Board for the Protection of Women) institutes - part of the legacy of Franco's rule that is still haunting Spain almost 50 years after his death in November 1975. 'ACT OF JUSTICE' Campaigners, including individual survivors and organisations such as the Banished Daughters of Eve, are demanding a response from the state, along the lines of Ireland's 2013 apology and reparations for the abuses in its Magdalene Laundries. Some are also asking for financial compensation to cover costs, including psychological support, and the work that they say they were made to do without pay in the centres. At the event, before it was disrupted, CONFER chairman Jesus Diaz Sariego described the statement as one step towards a broader process of recognition and that the organisation would collaborate in the search for the truth. "We are here to do what we consider necessary and right: to ask for forgiveness ... because this act is not just a formality, but a necessary act of justice. It is an exercise in historical and moral responsibility," he said. After the event, Consuelo Garcia del Cid, 66, a survivor, dismissed that apology as a "facelift" and accused CONFER of removing some of the recorded testimonies and stopping women talking about babies that campaigners say were taken from unwed mothers at the centres. Garcia del Cid, who championed the cause with several books and founded Banished Daughters of Eve, had earlier told the audience the Spanish government owed them, particularly for the 10 years the boards were kept running after Franco. Spain's Democratic Memory Ministry - set up to tackle the legacy of Spain's civil war and Franco's regime - said last week it applauded CONFER's action and planned to hold its own ceremony later this year. It declined to comment further on Monday. Equality minister Ana Redondo attended the event but did not make any comment. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
CNA
3 days ago
- CNA
Italy and Israeli Paragon part ways after spyware affair
ROME :Italy and Israeli spyware maker Paragon said they have ended contracts following allegations that the Italian government used the company's technology to hack the phones of critics, according to a parliamentary report on Monday and the company. Both sides said they had severed ties, giving conflicting accounts that triggered widespread criticism from opposition parties in Italy, while the journalists' federation FNSI called on prosecutors to investigate to ascertain the facts. An official with Meta's WhatsApp chat service said in January that the spyware had targeted scores of users, including, in Italy, a journalist and members of the Mediterranea migrant sea rescue charity critical of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The government said in February that seven Italian mobile phone users had been targeted by the spyware. At that time the government denied any involvement in illicit activities and said it had asked the National Cybersecurity Agency to look into the affair. A report from the parliamentary committee on security, COPASIR, said on Monday that Italian intelligence services had initially put on hold and then ended their contract with Paragon following a media outcry. It was unclear when the contract was ended. However, COPASIR recalled that, addressing parliament on February 12, the government had said that it was still in place. The committee also added it found no evidence that Francesco Cancellato, a reported target and editor of investigative website Fanpage, had been put under surveillance using Paragon's spyware, as he had alleged to Reuters and other media outlets. In a statement quoted by Fanpage, Paragon said it stopped providing spyware to Italy when Cancellato's alleged involvement became public, and said the government declined an offer to jointly investigate whether and how he was spied upon. The company did not reply to requests for comment from Reuters. Opposition politicians called on the government to clarify the matter in parliament. Meloni's office declined to comment. The COPASIR report said Italy's domestic and foreign intelligence agencies activated contracts with Paragon in 2023 and 2024 respectively and used it on a very limited number of people, with permission from a prosecutor. The foreign intelligence agency used the spyware to search for fugitives, counter illegal immigration, alleged terrorism, organised crime, fuel smuggling and counter-espionage and internal security activities, COPASIR said. It added that members of the Mediterranea charity were spied on "not as human rights activists, but in reference to their activities potentially related to irregular immigration", with permission from the government. Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano, Meloni's point man on intelligence matters, authorised the use of Paragon spyware on Mediterranea activists Luca Casarini and Beppe Caccia on September 5, 2024, the report said. Mantovano was not immediately available for comment. A Sicilian judge last month ordered six members of Mediterranea, including Casarini and Caccia, to stand trial on accusations of aiding illegal immigration, the first time crew members of a rescue vessel have faced such prosecution. All have denied wrongdoing.
CNA
3 days ago
- CNA
Italy has ended spyware contract with Paragon, parliamentary document shows
ROME :Italy has terminated a contract with Israeli spyware maker Paragon, a parliamentary document showed on Monday, following allegations that the Italian government used its technology to hack critics' phones. Paragon did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Meta's WhatsApp chat service said earlier this year Paragon spyware had targeted scores of users, including a journalist and members of the Mediterranea migrant sea rescue charity critical of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The government said in February that seven mobile phone users in Italy had been targeted by the spyware. Rome denied any involvement in illicit activities and said it had asked the National Cybersecurity Agency to look into the affair. A newly published report from the parliamentary committee on security, COPASIR, showed that Italian intelligence services had initially put on hold and then ended their contract with Paragon following the media outcry. The report said Italy's domestic and foreign intelligence agencies had activated contracts with Paragon in 2023 and 2024 respectively and used it on a very limited number of people, with permission from a prosecutor. The foreign intelligence agency used the spyware to search for fugitives, counter illegal immigration, alleged terrorism, organised crime, fuel smuggling and counter-espionage and internal security activities, COPASIR said. It said members of the Mediterranea charity were spied on "not as human rights activists, but in reference to their activities potentially related to irregular immigration", with permission from the government. Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano, Meloni's point man on intelligence matters, authorised the use of Paragon spyware on Mediterranea activists Luca Casarini and Beppe Caccia on September 5, 2024, the report said. Mantovano was not immediately available for comment. A Sicilian judge last month ordered six members of Mediterranea, including Casarini and Caccia, to stand trial on accusations of aiding illegal immigration, the first time crew members of a rescue vessel have faced such prosecution. All denied wrongdoing. The report found no evidence that Francesco Cancellato, a reported target and editor of investigative website Fanpage, had been put under surveillance using Paragon's spyware, as he had alleged to Reuters and other media outlets.
