2013 conclave

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Fifth and Sixth General Congregation of the College of Cardinals : Thursday, 7 March 2013, likely to discuss and decide Conclave date

The fifth General Congregation of the College of Cardinals will be held on Thursday, 7 March 2013 at 9.30 am in the morning, and then followed by another General Congregation, the sixth one, in the early evening at 5 pm. All times depicted here are Rome time or CET / UTC+1.

As by Thursday all Cardinal-electors should already be in Rome, and the fact that there will be two General Congregations on this day, is possibly that the Cardinals are hoping to finish up any matters before the start of the Conclave, and that in one of the two General Congregations, the date of the start of the Conclave may be decided. Only one Cardinal yet to arrive, Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh-Man, Metropolitan Archbishop of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. The other 114 Cardinal-electors (out of 115) have arrived in Rome and taken part in the General Congregations.

Look forward to the press briefing by Fr. Federico Lombardi, head of the Holy See Press Office on Thursday, 7 March 2013 at 1 pm Rome time / CET / UTC+1. If the date has been decided in the Fifth General Congregation in the morning, it will likely be announced in the press briefing, otherwise, as Fr. Lombardi has mentioned in his press briefing earlier, that if the Cardinals decide the date in the evening’s Sixth General Congregation, he will pass the message to the accredited news reporters to break the news to the world.

Let us continue to pray for our Church, for the Cardinal-electors, and for the smooth preparation and proceeding of the Conclave!

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Fourth General Congregation of the College of Cardinals : Some news and summary

http://www.news.va/en/news/general-congregations-profile-of-future-pope-emerg

After the end of the Fourth General Congregation of the College of Cardinals this morning, Wednesday, 6 March 2013, the dates of the Conclave had yet to be finalised. It is most likely that the decision on the date of the Conclave awaits the remaining Cardinal-electors who has yet arrived in Rome.

113 of the 115 Cardinal-electors slated to vote in the Conclave have arrived and taken part in the Fourth General Congregation this morning, and therefore, there are only two remaining Cardinal-electors still on their way to Rome.

Some Cardinals expresses the wish to have more time for discernment and the need to have more time to wait until the Conclave begins for careful considerations, but many others also express the wish to have the Conclave completed with the election of a new Pope before the Holy Week commences on Sunday, 24 March 2013. The College of Cardinals had signalled that they will give a few days notice prior to the beginning of the Conclave on the date.

51 Cardinals have so far used their right to give speech in front of the College of Cardinals, and through the meetings so far, qualities necessary for the next Pope has been emerging. The need for an intellectual and deeply rooted Pope like Pope Benedict XVI, but with a broader reach and willingness to approach others for discussions such as in the matter of interreligious dialogue.

Also the need for a more pastoral pope with experience as pastor and not just as theologian or curialist, that is to have significant work experience as bishop/archbishop of diocese/archdiocese (My personal opinion here shows that, just as many others have pointed out that these qualities can be found in the person of Cardinal Scola of Milan, but let God decide on that).

Fr. Federico Lombardi, head of the Holy See Press Office, in the following press conference has also confirmed that Cardinal Angelo Comastri as the Archpriest of the Basilica of St. Peter, will be the presider of the prayer for the Universal Church service at 5 pm Rome time (CET) today (Wednesday, 5 March 2013), live from Vatican Player at http://www.vatican.va/video/ at St. Peter’s Basilica.

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A beautiful, artistic representation of the Sede Vacante with coat-of-arms of the Cardinal Camerlengo, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone

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The Umbrella above the keys (silver and gold) in the place of the usual papal tiara is the symbol of the sede vacante, to represent that the Papacy, the position of the Bishop of Rome is vacant. A more complete version of the symbol is with the coat-of-arms of the Cardinal Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, who is currently the Cardinal Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone of Italy.

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The Cardinal Camerlengo is in charge of the events and governance of the Holy See, and also of the conclave during the sede vacante, until the new Pope is elected. He is also the one entrusted to seal the previous Pope’s private apartments and the destruction of the Ring of the Fisherman.

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Summary of the Third General Congregation of the College of Cardinals (Tuesday, 5 March 2013)

http://www.news.va/en/news/general-congregations-5-electors-yet-to-arrive

 

Here is a rough summary of what was concluded yesterday morning in the Third General Congregation of the College of Cardinals :

1. 110 Cardinal-electors are already in Rome by yesterday morning, only 5 more Cardinal-electors remaining to arrive.

2. No rush to fix the date of the Conclave, but it is still possible to begin by next Monday, 11 March 2013.

3. Sistine Chapel had been closed to public as of yesterday morning, Tuesday, 5 March 2013 to prepare for the Conclave.

4. 33 Cardinals had spoken so far and 11 interventions were made in yesterday’s General Congregation, with issues pertaining to activities of the Holy See and the Church, evangelisation, and many others.

5. Focus on the timeline of the Conclave as specified in the Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Gregis and the modifications made by the Motu Proprio Normas Nonnullas.

6. The Cardinals sent a thank-you letter to the Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, now living in the papal summer residence of Castel Gandolfo.

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Cardinal Walter Kasper (Germany) turns 80 today (5 March 2013) but will still be eligible to vote in the Conclave

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Cardinal Walter Kasper of Germany, the President Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity turns 80 today, Tuesday, 5 March 2013. As such, normally he would have lost his voting rights in a Conclave as a Cardinal-elector.

http://www.gcatholic.org/hierarchy/data/cardJP2-8.htm#76

However, as the rights of a Cardinal-elector is such that as long as he has not yet turned 80 at the moment when the Apostolic See (the Papacy) becomes vacant (Thursday, 28 February 2013), the Cardinal will still be an elector in the conclave that elects the next Pope. Therefore, Walter Kasper will still be an elector in the upcoming conclave, and thus, also the oldest of the Cardinal-electors to enter the Sistine Chapel in a week’s time.

Ad multos annos, Your Eminence! and we will always pray for you and for your brother Cardinals, especially the electors of our next Pope!

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Third General Congregation of the College of Cardinals and the Holy See Press Office Announcement

The third General Congregation of the College of Cardinals is now ongoing in Rome, starting since an hour ago (Tuesday, 5 March 2013 at 9.30 am Rome time / CET / UTC+1), and will continue on until another two hours. The date of the conclave had not been announced, but with still a few Cardinal-electors due to arrive in Rome by today, it might be that the date for the Conclave may not be known until the Holy See Press Office announcement by Fr. Federico Lombardi either today or tomorrow (both at 1 pm Rome time / CET / UTC+1).

Watch at the Vatican Player at http://www.vatican.va/video/ for the press release by Fr. Lombardi in another 2.5 hours or so, and as always, pray for all the Cardinals, especially the electors!

There will be only one General Congregation today and on the following days as opposed to two the previous day, as decided in the Second General Congregation yesterday evening (Rome time), thus the fourth General Congregation of the College of Cardinals, if there is one, will only commence tomorrow morning at 9.30 am (Wednesday, 6 March 2013).

103 Cardinal-electors attended the first General Congregation yesterday morning, out of a total of 115, and another 4 joined in the second General Congregation in the afternoon (107 out of 115), thus only another 8 Cardinal-electors, who are all hoped to arrive in Rome by today.

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Regarding Vatican Player video at www.vatican.va/video/ : How to view past videos

If you have missed the live broadcast of any past Papal events and events involving the Holy See, such as the press conferences in recent days by Fr. Federico Lombardi of the Holy See Press Office, you can access the recording at the Vatican Player site itself at http://www.vatican.va/video/

Instead of picking to watch live at the TV tab above (There are three tabs : Radio, TV, and agenda), pick the agenda tab, and then at the calendar at the right side, pick the date of the event that you like (For example, pick 13 February 2013 for the Ash Wednesday Mass and Pope Benedict XVI’s last public Mass). Then pick the event from the left side out of the list of events that occured that particular day.

Only those that has the TV icon has the recording though. If the TV icon is there, click on it, then click on the other TV icon on the upper-right hand side of the window, and then happy watching!

In addition, the website http://www.benedictxvi.tv/ also has a vast collection of papal videos (Pope Benedict XVI and documentaries of other Popes) available. Do visit and support the site!

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Pictures of all 115 Cardinal-electors of the Holy Roman Church heading into the Conclave

http://www.photovat.com/PHOTOVAT/CARDINALI%20ELETTORI/CARDINALI-ELETTORI.htm

On the Vatican photo website above you can find the pictures of each and every one of the Cardinal-electors, in fact all 117 of them, including Cardinal Julius Darmaatmadja of Indonesia who will not be attending the Conclave due to health problems and failing eyesight, and Cardinal Edwin Frederick O’ Brien of Scotland, UK, who will not be attending the Conclave due to serious allegations against him.

Nevertheless, we pray for both Cardinal O’ Brien and Cardinal Darmaatmadja that God will always be with them, and of course we pray for all the rest of the Cardinal-electors who will go into the Conclave to elect the new Pope! May the Holy Spirit be with them and guide them through until we hear “Habemus Papam! We have a Pope!”

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Pictures of the First General Congregation of the College of Cardinals (Monday, 4 March 2013 at 9.30 am)

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.505028852894470.1073741832.171224532941572&type=1

The First General Congregation of the College of Cardinals had ended, and the pictures can be found in the Facebook link of Vatican News above. Now they are in the Second General Congregation, likely to discuss the date of the Conclave, which may be revealed by tomorrow. So stay tuned! and pray for our Cardinal-electors!

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First General Congregation of the College of Cardinals in ongoing : We pray for the Cardinals and wait for news

The First General Congregation of the College of Cardinals in now ongoing in Rome (since half an hour ago, 9.30 am Rome time today), with most Cardinals having arrived in Rome, to discuss the Conclave, and the qualities needed for the next Pope. Which is also a chance for the Cardinals to discuss among themselves who they think the best candidate is.

The date of the Conclave will also be decided shortly, if not in this meeting, then in the Second General Congregation which will begin at 5 pm Rome time today. We pray for the Cardinal-electors, that the Holy Spirit will guide all of them in this period, and later into the Conclave, that we will soon have a new Pope, a wonderful new Shepherd to lead God’s Church in this world.

We await the press briefing by Fr. Federico Lombardi, head of the Holy See Press Office, which will be at 1 pm Rome time today (CET/UTC+1).