Briefing on the Fifth General Congregation of the College of Cardinals March 7, 2013 (AM) The Fifth General Congregation of the College of Cardinals took place on Thursday, 7 March, from 9:30am until 12:40pm. Two newly arrived cardinals were sworn in: Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz, archbishop of Warsaw, Poland, who is a Cardinal elector, and Cardinal Giovanni Coppa, apostolic nuncio emeritus to Czech Republic, who is not an elector. The number of Cardinal electors who have arrived so far is thus 114. Three new Cardinal assistants to the Camerlengo were then chosen by lot to serve on the Particular Congregation for the following three days. The Cardinal assistants chosen were: from the Order of Bishops, Cardinal Béchara Boutros Raï, O.M.M., patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites, Lebanon; from the Order of Priests, Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, archbishop of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo; and from the Order of Deacons, Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, C.S., president emeritus of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See. Cardinal Dean Angelo Sodano then read the draft of a telegram of condolence to be sent on behalf of the College of Cardinals to the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on the occasion of the death of President Hugo Chavez, in accordance with the Holy Father’s custom of sending a telegram when a head of state dies. Proceedings then resumed with interventions from the three Cardinal presidents of the Holy See’s economic departments: Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi, president of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See; Cardinal Domenico Calcagno, president of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA); and Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, president of the Governorate of Vatican City State. Each gave a brief report in their area of competence in accordance with the provisions outlined in No. 171 § 2 of the Apostolic Constitution "Pastor Bonus". The interventions that followed, of which there were 13 in addition to the three aforementioned ones, again covered a wide range of topics including, in addition to those mentioned in the previous briefing, ecumenism and the Church's charitable efforts and attention to the poor. No decision regarding the starting date of the Conclave has yet been made.