Ratzinger was elected Pope after Argentine cardinal turned the job down

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=6109850&cKey=1127495135000&ticker=true

Pope Benedict elected after Argentine waiver - report

ROME (Reuters) - Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope in April after his closest rival in the conclave, a cardinal from Argentina, indicated he did not want the responsibility, according to a secret account published by a magazine on Friday.

Respected Italian magazine Limes said details of the closed-door voting inside the frescoed Sistine Chapel come from the diary of an unnamed cardinal.

The 115 cardinals who entered the conclave on April 18 took a vow of "absolute and perpetual secrecy" not to reveal details of the election and the Vatican did not comment on the report.

If true, the diary would show that Pope Benedict was elected with fewer votes than those attributed to his predecessor, John Paul II, and that Latin America was closer than previously thought to having its first pope.

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Intriguing

[Fridays Child]

2. Fewer votes got him elected? Reminds me of Bush. nt

[nickinSTL]

3. any idea who the Argentinian was?

if it's true...considering the speed of the election...I have my doubts.

Interesting to speculate, though.

Couldn't have been Bergoglio, could it?

[mattclearing]

4. This article doesn't mean anything.

They still could have voted the cardinal Pope against his wishes. He could have been demurring. They didn't. This revelation doesn't change anything.

[Village Idiot]

5. Strange...

"The 115 cardinals who entered the conclave on April 18 took a vow of "absolute and perpetual secrecy..."

Wonder who blabbed? Goin' to Hell, for sure.