A clandestine meeting to elect Pope Leo, the head of the Catholic Church, last May encountered a significant disruption due to a security breach. It was discovered that one of the 133 cardinals present had a mobile phone, as revealed in a book released on Sunday.
As preparations for the first vote took place in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel—where devices were installed to block outside communication—security personnel detected signals from active mobile connections.
In a moment of shock, the cardinals looked around, realizing that an older cleric had a cellphone in his pocket. He eventually surrendered it, according to the book, “The Election of Pope Leo XIV,” authored by two Vatican correspondents.
The identity of the cardinal has not been disclosed, and no clear reasoning for having the phone was offered, with the text noting he felt “disoriented and confused” at that moment.
Security breach was ‘better than fiction’
Authors Gerard O’Connell and Elisabetta Piquet described the incident as “unimaginable in movies” and unlike any scenario previously seen in modern conclave history.
Interestingly, a 2024 film titled “Conclave” depicted complex intrigue during a fictional papal election. O’Connell mentioned to Reuters that the actual discovery of the cell phone during last year’s conclave proved even more shocking than the film’s portrayal.
“Reality was better than fiction,” he asserted.
During such conclaves, priests commit to not communicating externally and are expected to turn in all mobile devices for the duration, which can span several days.
There are only two potential candidates for the position of Pope.
The cardinals convened for two days on May 7 and 8 to elect a successor to Pope Francis, who had passed away in April after 12 years in leadership of the 1.4 billion-member church.
At that time, speculation swirled around the possibility of selecting a new pope from Asia or Africa, particularly since this conclave represented the most geographically diverse gathering in history, with clergy hailing from 70 countries.
However, the book indicates that candidates from those regions failed to gain significant traction, revealing for the first time insights on the voting process through interviews with participating clergy.
According to the book, two candidates quickly emerged as front-runners during the meeting.
One was Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, regarded by many media sources as a leading candidate.
The other was American Cardinal Robert Prevost, who, despite being relatively unknown outside church circles, would ultimately become America’s first pope, Pope Leo.
During the first vote on the evening of May 7, Prevost notably secured an unexpectedly high number of votes—between 20 to 30, as reported.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines was also viewed as a leading contender, but he garnered fewer than 10 votes at the conclave.
In the fourth round of voting on May 8, Prevost emerged victorious with 108 votes. Interestingly, during the final count, Mr. Tagle offered Prevost cough medicine to ease his throat, according to the publication.
