Preparations to elect the next pope begin with 'tagliatelle talks'
Nick Squires
One is partial to grilled calamari, another cannot resist spaghetti with seafood and a third confesses to a weakness for gelato.
As cardinals prepare to enter the Sistine Chapel in a few days to elect a new pope, they are engaged in intense discussions over plates of carbonara and bottles of wine in the Borgo, the village-like quarter of cobbled lanes, tiny piazzas and ornate fountains that lies just a few yards from the walls of the Vatican City State.
Think of them as "gnocchi negotiations"; perhaps "tagliatelle talks".
Cardinals from around the world are lunching and dining each other in discreet corners as they discuss the legacy of Pope Francis, who died last week at the age of 88, and the immense challenges faced by the Church, from sex abuse scandals to the role of women and the blessing of same-sex couples.
The exchange of opinions, voting strategy and good old-fashioned gossip will prove crucial when they enter the frescoed confines of the Sistine Chapel next Wednesday at the start of the conclave, the secretive election in which they will choose a new pontiff.
The Borgo is perfectly placed - a tangle of mediaeval streets just a short stroll from St Peter's Square.
There are several speciality shops servicing all the needs of the clergy - from bishops' mitres, priests' robes, crucifixes and light-up rosaries to Madonna and child icons and brass goblets for serving communion wine.
Among the restaurants patronised by the red-hatted "princes of the Church" is the Tre Pupazzi (The Three Puppets), which is a favourite of Gerhard Ludwig Müller, a conservative German cardinal who warned this week that the next pope should reject the progressive path laid by Francis and return to traditional doctrine.
'Informal conversations'
"The period before the cardinals go into the conclave is absolutely key. It is when they get to have dinners, coffee and drinks, and to have informal conversations where they can talk to candidates. They will be asking, how does he relate to me, what is his position on various issues?" Thomas Reese, a Jesuit priest and Vatican expert, told The Telegraph.
"All these informal conversations are extremely important before they go into the conclave because when they are in the Sistine Chapel it is in total silence, except for voting. There's no conversation," said Father Reese, a columnist for the Catholic news outlet Religion News Service.
Bonding over a plate of lasagne or rigatoni is even more crucial ahead of this conclave - Pope Francis appointed dozens of cardinals, many of them from distant countries such as Mongolia, New Zealand and the Central African Republic.
Many of the 133 cardinals who will vote in the conclave have never met each other before, let alone had the chance to discuss the qualities that will be required by the next leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics.
"It's even more important this time around because the conclave is the biggest ever in terms of numbers of cardinals and they come from 71 countries so many don't know each other. That has its complications. They have to reach a two thirds majority," said Father Reese.
Asked whether the next pope could be chosen over a pizza, he said: "Absolutely."
Cardinals are regular customers at the trattoria Marcantonio, which takes its name from the brothers who own it - Marco and Antonio.
"They come here for lunch and dinner. I'd rather not give names - they value their privacy," said one of the brothers, Antonio Statuto. "We mostly get foreign cardinals rather than Italians."
Cardinals tend not to wear their distinctive sashes and red caps when they venture into the Borgo to eat. "They dress fairly inconspicuously - they don't want to be recognised," he said.
Pietro Parolin, who was number two to Pope Francis as secretary of state, reportedly changes venue almost every day so that he cannot be tracked down by curious journalists.
He is one of three Italian cardinals being cited as "papabile" - the Italian word that translates as "popeable", meaning he is a likely candidate to succeed Francis.
While Cardinal Parolin has a love of oven-baked fish, Lazarus You Heung-sik, a cardinal from South Korea, reportedly goes for spaghetti with mussels, clams and prawns followed by a plate of grilled calamari.
Leopoldo Solorzano, a Nicaraguan cardinal, has a soft spot for gelato. His favourite flavour is said to be dulce de leche with caramel - fitting, given that it was invented for Pope Francis on his election in 2013.
It is not just over bottles of Vermentino and plates of pasta that the cardinals plot their moves ahead of the conclave.
Each morning they meet for behind-closed-door discussions at the Vatican called General Congregations.
The sixth such meeting since Francis's death was held on Tuesday and was attended by 183 cardinals, of whom around 120 will be able to vote in the conclave.
"The focus of the reflections was the role of the Church in today's world, and the challenges she faces," said Matteo Bruni, the Vatican spokesman.
"The cardinals shared different perspectives, enriched by the experiences and contexts of the various continents, questioning what response the Church is required to offer in these times."
Disastrous ?350m investment
The Vatican confirmed that two elderly cardinals will not take part in the conclave because of ill health.
A third cardinal also dropped out.
Angelo Becciu, 76, a disgraced Italian cardinal, was convicted by the Vatican's criminal court in 2023 of embezzlement, fraud, extortion, money laundering and abuse of office.
Some of the charges revolved around the Vatican's disastrous, ?350 million (£298 million) investment in a former Harrods property in London which was to be turned into luxury apartments.
He was also accused of sending money to Cecilia Marogna, an Italian woman dubbed the Mata Hari of the Vatican, who claimed she had close links with intelligence services.
She spent some of the cash on furniture and designer handbags.
In recent days, Cardinal Becciu had insisted that he had the right to turn up at the conclave, but he changed his tune after reportedly being told that Pope Francis wrote two letters before his death, stipulating that he must not be allowed to take part.
Telegraph
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/04/30/cardinals-conclave-lunching-pasta-pizza-decide-next-pope/
