New Pope 'Needs To Put House In Order'

The Catholic Church is facing calls from within to "put its own house in order" as cardinals prepare to elect the next pope.

Jane Livesey is a straight talking, no-nonsense Brit who also happens to be a nun living and working in the power base of the Catholic faith - Rome.

And she isn't short of opinions about what needs to be done to restore trust in the church which she says she "loves, but sometimes drives me mad".

"The church needs to put its own house in order and be seen to be putting its house in order," says Sister Livesey.

Her comments come ahead of the conclave, which begins tomorrow with cardinals entering the Sistine Chapel to choose the successor to Pope Benedict XVI.

One secret ballot will be held on Tuesday, with two each subsequent morning and afternoon until a decision is made with a two-thirds majority.

Sister Livesey believes the last pope failed to grasp just how ordinary people were feeling in the wake of the unravelling sexual abuse scandals.

"The pope's people, his civil service, were out of touch. They didn't get it and that meant he didn't get it."

By "they" Sister Livesey means the Roman Curia - the powerful, intensely secretive, predominantly Italian, bureaucratic body in the Vatican whose members are now facing intense scrutiny after leaked documents alleged high-level corruption and gay networks at the top.

A report commissioned by Pope Benedict into the so-called Vatileaks scandal remains under wraps and is the subject of fierce speculation.

In fact some of the cardinals who will be choosing the new pope have been demanding to see the contents of the report.

Investigative journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi said: "A very strong request came from the North American cardinals. Transparency was one of their demands."

But Pope Benedict had insisted before departing only the next pontiff will get to see what is contained in its pages.

From what he has uncovered in relation to Vatileaks, Mr Nuzzi said: "It's evident that the dossier shows the power struggles in the Roman Curia which sent the papacy into a stall.

"So much so that Pope Benedict took a step back for what he called the good of the church. He stepped away from the divisions that he acknowledged slashed at the face of the church."

The new pontiff will have to not only wrestle with the content of the report but deal with the fallout. There is a growing chorus coming from the Catholic clergy worldwide for reform of the Curia.

Father Marco Fibbi, whose church is in the Tiburtino suburb not far from the Vatican, wants to see power wrested from the Curia and even from priests. He wants power and responsibility shared with lay people.

He said: "In other countries lay people do the work of spreading the word. Priests have to leave more space to lay people.

"Look, in history of the church the best testimony didn't come from popes or cardinals, but simple people. St Francis of Assisi was a layman, he never become a priest, but he had a very strong message."

Father Fibbi acknowledges that some in the church might find that concept hard to deal with, but he is unapologetic, saying: "Maybe this is a kind of humble therapy for priests to realise they are not so fundamental for the Church."

It's a thought he hopes the new pontiff will spread. Father Fibbi says this moment of transition at the Vatican is a real opportunity for change and reform. Reform which he believes has been a long time coming.