The Vatican (Creative Commons/dslr travel)

The College of Cardinals cut off formal communication with the news media on Wednesday as they decide when to start the process of selecting a new pope after Pope Benedict XVI officially stepped down last week.

The decision comes after confidential proceedings were reported in Italian newspapers.

The Washington Post reported:

• A report Wednesday by Italy’s most authoritative Vatican reporter, La Stampa’s Andrea Tornielli, disclosed details of the cardinals’ private deliberations, including the revelation that they had called for reforms of the Roman Curia, the bureaucracy that governs the Catholic Church, and had asked for more information about the leaking of papal correspondence, a scandal known as VatiLeaks that engulfed the Vatican last year. Tornielli also reported that embattled Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles had spoken, that cardinals called for better communications between the pope and the heads of the various church departments, and that some cardinals wanted to extend the preliminary talks into next week.
• According to Vatican officials and experts, the media blackout might be more than a crackdown in reaction to the leak. It could also have a political dimension.

As of Wednesday, two cardinals still remained absent out of the 117 expected to attend the conclave.

Find more Neon Tommy coverage on the papal conclave here.
Reach Executive Producer Paige Brettingen here.