Alberto Melloni, 54, is one of the most important historian of the Church in Italy and is the author of “Il conclave. Storia dell’elezione del Papa (Il Mulino)”. Professor of history of the Christianity at the Modena-Reggio Emilia University, he is at the head of the Foundation for religious sciences Giovanni XXIII in Bologna.

Columnist for the Corriere della Sera, Melloni presents now a series of seven “Lections from the conclave”, on air on Sundays on Rai3 fron 13 to 13:30. Formiche.net has interviewed him to talk about Benedict XVI’s resignation and about the conclave.

Pope Benedict XVI has announced his resignation, and now there is going to be an “unprecedented phase”, as you have defined it. What are the aspects that make it so original?

Ratzinger’s resignation has been taken for granted, in fact the canonic law code considers the Pope’s surrender. This rule is valid for every ecclesiastical office all over the world. Since this hypothesis has never happened in the latest centuries, except for the cases reminded by the media, there could be some difficulties managing this situation.

The Vatican’s secretariat of state has recently stepped-in amid swirl media speculation about the contents of a confidential report of the Cardinals’ commission into the Vatican’s leaks scandal. Giuliano Ferrara, Il Foglio news director, has published an article titled: “The slander’s strategy”. Do you think media has hammered away at the Vatican?

Unlike the cases of sexual abuses, the confidential report among the three old cardinals could have some kind of emphasis on the conclave. The situation is now very delicate and corresponds to what has been declared by the Vatican’s secretariat of state in the note. However, the Catholic Church is not under a media blitz. This is a normal propaganda before the conclave, carried on by those who support the necessity of a Pope with so much power, enabling him to stop the abuses inside the Curia Romana. Even if, of course, vilenesses and secret’s violations are not news.

Some days ago Benedict XVI has published the Motu Proprio and he gives the cardinals’ college new powers to shorten the conclave’s timing, What is going to change for the new Pope’s election?

Actually, Benedict XVI has changed nothing, but has decided some little stipulations. There have recently been rumors about the conclave’s anticipation since all cardinals would have been in Roma on February, the 28th to say goodbye to Ratzinger. But, fortunately, that has not been true. It is not by chance, indeed, that changes to the Constitutions that discipline the new Pope’s election are decided by the Pontiff at the beginning of his mandate. The idea that, changing the rules before the conclave, some cardinals could get a head start in the election, has to be avoided.

In your opinion, will Benedict XVI’ghost hover over the cardinals gathered up in the conclave?

No doubt the cardinals should measure up against someone who has not died, as usually happens. And, above all, with someone for whom they feel attachment and respect. At the same time, however, the cardinals had, and will have, so much time to discuss e to get to know each other. But Benedict XVI is essentially disappearing. A kind of spiritual reclusion that is releasing cardinals voting for his successor.

Last question. Will the new Pope be Italian? George Ratzinger, Benedict XVI’s brother, thinks he will.

This game of insisting on names or nationalities is probably disruptive, not constructing. Whoever he will be, the new Pope is Italian, being Rome’s bishop. And if he is not, he will become Italian.