The Cardinals were giving general press conferences every day on different stages of the process, the significance of the ritual, etc. and not on anything that was actually being discussed. They felt that this would instill confidence in the openness of the process, and they did nothing to reveal anything “secret.”
The Italians, on the other hand, are busy as birddogs leaking the actual conferences to the Italian press. But the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cdl Sodano, is not only an Italian, but one very opposed to BXVI and his appointments (which would mean most of the younger American cardinals).
Even the Italian press today had a commentator saying “The Americans are being punished for the sins of the Italians.”
Yes, exactly.
The American Cardinals were merely talking to the press to try to educate them as to what this is all about. There were no secrets. The conclave is secret, but the conclave has not yet begun.
The problem is that Sodano and most of the Italian Cardinals think they should be the guys running the Church, and they really resent outsiders taking over—as they did with JP II and Benedict XVI.
Fortunately, they are being stupid behaving like this, and I doubt very much that it will line up much support for their insider views.