FHC, against all the rules clearly laid out by JPII, Cardinal Danneels organized and lead a cabal of like-minded cardinals. They openly lobbied for Jorge Bergolio before and during the last conclave. They got their man elected, perhaps in spite of the HS.
Yes. Many including pope Benedict have notes that cardinals have free will and can ignore or defy any divine influence they may receive
Continuing about Pope Benedict’s comment —. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was asked on Bavarian television in 1997 if the Holy Spirit is responsible for who gets elected. This was his response:
I would not say so, in the sense that the Holy Spirit picks out the Pope. … I would say that the Spirit does not exactly take control of the affair, but rather like a good educator, as it were, leaves us much space, much freedom, without entirely abandoning us. Thus the Spirit’s role should be understood in a much more elastic sense, not that he dictates the candidate for whom one must vote. Probably the only assurance he offers is that the thing cannot be totally ruined.
Further: