Conclave to begin
Tuesday afternoon, March 12
The following supersedes the earlier item posted below:
The eighth General Congregation of the College of Cardinals has decided that the Conclave will begin on Tuesday, 12 March 2013
A “pro eligendo Romano Pontifice” Mass will be celebrated in St. Peter’s Basilica in the morning. In the afternoon the cardinals will enter into the Conclave.
Conclave expected to start
early next week
By Crispian Balmer
VATICAN CITY, Match 8, 2013 (Reuters) - Roman Catholic cardinals will decide later on Friday when to start their conclave to elect a successor to Pope Benedict and the secret gathering will most likely begin early next week, the Vatican said.
Benedict's surprise abdication last month has drawn most
[MOST? All but 2 of the electors] of the world's cardinals to Vatican City for discussions on the problems facing the 1.2 billion-member Church, and
to decide on the profile of the man they want to take charge.
[I do not understand this universal and persistent formulation used even by Fr. Lombardi. Certainly, the cardinals who take the floor at the congregations are free to say "I believe these are the criteria for the next Pope", but that is not for the Congregations to decide as if they were putting it to a vote. After all, any man they choose to be Pope must be holy, spiritual, pastoral, intelligent, and competent.
If by this last criterion they mean someone who can 'reform the Curia', I do not recall that any one cardinal who has been in charge of a fairly large organization (such as SecState) or large diocese has ever been singled out for particular competence in running their bureaucracies. Without detracting in any way from his greatness and holiness, even Blessed Karol Wojtyla whom his preeminent biographer holds up as a model of pastoral competence in every way - he may well have been - chose not to do anything about the Curia he inherited and pretty much let the Curial offices do as they pleased during the 26 years of his Pontificate.
And yet, no one now says that Curial era was particularly 'chaotic', despite the unfortunate scandals of the Banco Ambrosiano, of the Orlandi kidnapping and of the Swiss Guard love-triangle killings. Against which we had what in the Curia of Benedict XVI? An overpriced Nativity scene on St. Peter's Square. I just wish everyone would stop being so sanctimonious about Benedict XVI's Curia, because it seems like everyone, from the most sober cardinal imaginable and the Vatican media officials themselves to the man on the street, has swallowed whole and been indelibly conditioned by the media line that 'crisis in the Church' means bureaucratic problems rather than, as Benedict XVI never ceased to underscore, a crisis of faith and the need for individual purification, to begin with. I cannot believe the cardinal electors do not realize this in their daily examinations of conscience, if they do still follow this old=fashioned practice.]
There is no clear favourite to take the helm of the Church, which faces
an array of problems following Benedict's rocky, eight-year reign, ranging from sexual abuse scandals to internal strife at the heart of the Vatican administration. ['Scandals' which did not take place in his Pontificate and which he was the first one in the Church to seek to redress in any way, and 'internal strife' which no one has shown to be no more or no less than what has usually afflicted the Vatican or any organization, for that matter! Why does media never balance out its presentation once they have decided something must be unconditionally negative?]
Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said cardinals would vote later in the day on when to seclude themselves in the Sistine Chapel for the conclave balloting, with a decision expected soon after 7 p.m. local time (6 p.m. British Time).
"I believe that it will start in the first few days of next week. They certainly won't decide to start tomorrow or on Sunday, but they could choose Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday," Lombardi told reporters at a daily news briefing.
A total of 115 elector-cardinals, all aged under 80, are expected to take part in the elaborate Sistine Chapel ritual, which will continue until one man receives at least a two-thirds majority, put at 77 votes.
Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man was the last of the elector-cardinals to come to the Vatican, arriving on Thursday. He joined about 150 cardinals of all ages who are discussing the state of the Church before the conclave, in preliminary meetings known as general congregations.
Vatican officials have put pressure on those present not to divulge the content of those discussions, but leaks continue to appear in the Italian press, with La Stampa daily reporting that
criticism of the Vatican bureaucracy continued to surface.
[If, as previous reports emphasized, most of the cardinals say they want to know more about Vatileaks since they know very little about what is happening in the Curia, what would be the basis for their criticisms then? What they read in the media? I hope the Curial cardinals present speak up and defend themselves and their offices if they have nothing to apologize for!]
Lombardi said about 100 cardinals had taken the floor since the formal meetings started on Monday, adding that important informal conversations were also being held on the sidelines.
The cardinals have made it clear they want a quick conclave to make sure that they can all return to their dioceses in time to lead Easter celebrations - the most important event in the Roman Catholic calendar.
Vatican insiders say the longer the general pre-discussions go on, the easier it should be to establish the best candidates to take the helm, possibly shortening the eventual vote.
Pope Benedict was elected in little over a day after just four rounds of voting, while his predecessor, Pope John Paul, was elected after eight ballots spaced out over three days.
Cardinals were traditionally locked into areas around the Sistine Chapel, famed for its Michelangelo frescoes, and not allowed out until they chose a new pontiff.
But the rules changed before the 2005 conclave and the red-capped prelates now get to reside in a comfortable Vatican hotel while they are not voting in the Sistine Chapel.
Father Lombardi said the cardinal electors would draw lots to see which rooms they would get to sleep in, with all external contact, including emails and telephone calls, forbidden.
Special jamming devices would also be set up in and around the Sistine Chapel and the residence to stop any outsiders from trying to eavesdrop and to prevent any mobile phone usage in the vicinity.
One senior prelate is believed to have let slip to friends in Germany that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger had been elected pope in 2005 before the crowds waiting in the nearby St. Peter's Square had been informed.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 10/03/2013 00:55]