The United States has 11 of the 115 votes, making it the second largest national bloc after Italy.

Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said Saturday that the symbolic Fisherman's Ring and the seal that Benedict XVI used as pope have been scratched to render them invalid.

Three other symbols of Benedict XVI's papacy were destroyed in the same way, he said. The next pope will get a new Fisherman's Ring and seal with his own name on it after he is elected.

Benedict XVI resigned 10 days ago, becoming the first pontiff to do so in six centuries.