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Article updated: 2/21/2013 9:31 AM

Vatican feuds, fiefdoms, betrayals await next pope

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Pope Benedict XVI, left, was well aware of the problems in the internal governance of the Catholic Church, having spent nearly a quarter-century in the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. But he never entered into the Vatican's political fray as a cardinal — and as pope left it to his No. 2, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, to do the job.

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After 35 years under two "scholar'' popes who paid scant attention to the internal governance of the Catholic Church, a chorus is growing that the next pontiff must have a solid track record managing a complicated bureaucracy.

Associated Press file photo

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Ordinary Catholics might not think that dysfunction in the Apostolic Palace has any effect on their lives, but it does: The Curia makes decisions on everything from church closings to marriage annulments to the disciplining of pedophile priests. After 35 years under two "scholar" popes who paid scant attention to the internal governance of the Catholic Church, a chorus is growing that the next pontiff must have a solid track record managing a complicated bureaucracy.
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    • Pope Benedict XVI, left, was well aware of the problems in the internal governance of the Catholic Church, having spent nearly a quarter-century in the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. But he never entered into the Vatican’s political fray as a cardinal — and as pope left it to his No. 2, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, to do the job.
    • After 35 years under two “scholar’’ popes who paid scant attention to the internal governance of the Catholic Church, a chorus is growing that the next pontiff must have a solid track record managing a complicated bureaucracy.
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