Cardinal electors

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Press briefing on the conclusion of the General Congregations of the College of Cardinals

The Ninth General Congregation of the College of Cardinals have been concluded this Saturday morning, 9 March 2013, and as the date of the beginning of the Conclave came closer (Tuesday, 12 March 2013), Fr. Federico Lombardi, head of the Holy See Press Office clarifies certain matters involving the sede vacante period and the upcoming Conclave.

The Conclave will be preceded by a Solemn Mass for the Election of the Roman Pontiff or the Missa pro Eligendo Pontifice/Papa on Tuesday morning, 12 March 2013 in St. Peter’s Basilica, and then on the same day, Tuesday, in the afternoon, the Cardinals will proceed into the Sistine Chapel to officially begin the Conclave.

The famous chimney which will release the signal whether a new Pope had been elected, had been installed on the roof of the Sistine Chapel on Friday morning, after long work by the technicians in the installing the two stoves where the ballots will be burned after the ballots, and the chimney itself, linked directly to the stoves inside the Sistine Chapel.

The Ring of Fisherman, two papal stamps bearing the image of the Ring of the Fisherman, and the master lead seal, also bearing the Ring’s image, which is used for major documents, have been decommissioned by defacement of the Ring’s image, and therefore while the Ring of the Fisherman has not been completely destroyed,

A commission has been created to ensure that the Conclave has indeed been sealed entirely from the outside world, with no external portal of entry and ensuring that no one tampers with the seal of the Conclave until a new Pope had been elected. Strong frequency and signal jammers had also been installed to prevent any wiretapping and bugging of the Sistine Chapel and the areas where the Cardinals will reside throughout the Conclave.

It is noted that if the Conclave has not been successful to elect a new Pope after three full days (a new Pope can only be elected if he receives more than two-thirds of all the votes of the Cardinal-electors, or 77 votes), the voting sessions will be adjourned for a day of prayer and reflection, so that in the event of the upcoming voting sessions, the Cardinals can gain a new inspiration of the Holy Spirit and therefore hopefully elect a new Pope as soon as possible.

The Motu Proprio released earlier by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007 has modified the rules of the election as written in the Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Gregis, as it no longer allows the Cardinal-electors to revert to an absolute majority system once a certain number of days have passed (many days), and the Motu Proprio once again made the election of the new Pope by two-thirds majority alone.

The bells of St. Peter’s Basilica and also the other bells of the churches throughout Rome will also be rung once the new Pope had been elected, just as they were in 2005 conclave, to reinforce and affirm the white smoke signal released through the chimney of the Sistine Chapel.

About 45 minutes or more may pass between the election of the new Pope and his appearance on the Loggia or the balcony of the St. Peter’s Basilica, as there are rites that the new Pope had to go through in the time between, beginning with the acceptance of the election, the entry into the Room of Tears where the Pope will change into his new white Papal cassock, and then homage from all the Cardinals, and of course the announcement of the Habemus Papam by the Cardinal Protodeacon, Jean-Louis Tauran himself, before the new Pope will make his appearance on the balcony.

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Ninth General Congregation of the College of Cardinals : Saturday, 9 March 2013

The ninth and probably the last of the General Congregations of the College of Cardinals will take place on Saturday morning at 9.30 am, 9 March 2013, and may be used as an opportunity to clear up outstanding matters and issues, and to help the Cardinals to affirm what they are looking as the characteristics needed in the new Pope, which they will elect in the Conclave that will begin on Tuesday, 12 March 2013.

Now that the date of the Conclave has already been decided, the remaining matter to be completed is to assign the rooms in the Domus Sancta Marthae where the Cardinals will stay during the duration of the Conclave. The room assignment is done by lots and therefore is random, and may be done in the Ninth General Congregation this morning.

The Mass for the Election of the Roman Pontiff or the Missa pro Eligendo Pontifice, has also been confirmed to take place at St. Peter’s Basilica on Tuesday morning before the commencement of the Conclave on Tuesday afternoon, when the Cardinals will march into the Sistine Chapel and henceforth be ‘closed-off’ from the outside world until the new Pope is elected.

Fr. Federico Lombardi, head of the Holy See Press Office will give his usual press briefing on Saturday afternoon at 1pm Rome time (1 pm CET // 12 pm UTC // 7 am EST // 4 am PST // 7 pm WIB or UTC+7 // 8 pm Singapore time or UTC+8).

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Seventh General Congregation of the College of Cardinals : Friday, 8 March 2013 at 9.30 am Rome time / CET

The seventh General Congregation of the College of Cardinals will commence in a few hours time at 9.30 am today, Friday, 8 March 2013 in Rome, with all the 115 Cardinal-electors having been present in Rome. The date of the Conclave may be decided in this General Congregation, and if so, the usual scheduled press briefing by Fr. Federico Lombardi of the Holy See Press Office, will announce it (at 1 pm today).

There will be no Eighth General Congregation this afternoon. It is not known yet when the General Congregations will begin again, or when the Mass for the Election of the New Pontiff (Missa pro Eligendo Pontifice) will be held.

Continue praying for our Cardinals, that they will soon be able to come into a conclusion on their discussions and meetings, and filled with the Holy Spirit, will be able to go into the Conclave and with their inspiration, elect a great new Pope as our new shepherd!

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(Update) Summary of the Fifth General Congregation of the College of Cardinals : Thursday, 7 March 2013

http://www.news.va/en/news/general-congregations-with-all-electors-present-st

Rumour had mentioned that the St. Peter’s Basilica is booked for the Mass for the Election of the Roman Pontiff (Missa pro Eligendo Pontifice), but has been dismissed as untrue by Fr. Federico Lombardi, head of the Holy See Press Office.

152 Cardinals attended the Fifth General Congregation, with 114 Cardinal-electors attending. The last Cardinal-elector to arrive, Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh-Man of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam will arrive in time to attend the Sixth General Congregation on Thursday evening.

New Particular Congregation leaders are elected to aid the Camerlengo during this period with term of 3 days each cycle. Particular Congregation is only limited to Cardinal-electors and divided into three groups depending on the orders of the Cardinals (Bishops, priests, or deacons), and also scheduled to meet among themselves for discussions.

1. Cardinal Bishops : Cardinal Bechara Rai (Cardinal-Patriarch)

2. Cardinal Priests : Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya of Kinshasa, Zaire

3. Cardinal Deacons : Cardinal Velasio de Paolis

Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Angelo Sodano has also read and sent the letter of condolence to the late Venezuelan leader, Hugo Chavez.

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Summary of the Fifth General Congregation of the College of Cardinals : Thursday, 7 March 2013

The Fifth General Congregation of the College of Cardinals was held this morning, Thursday, 7 March 2013. All the Cardinal-electors, all 115 of them who will be voting to elect the new Pope in the upcoming Conclave, are already in Rome and had taken part in the meeting this morning.

No date has yet been fixed for the start of the Conclave, although the afternoon session, that is the Sixth General Congregation may decide just that, or the Seventh one, which will be held tomorrow, Friday, 8 March 2013 morning at 9.30 am. Fr. Federico Lombardi, the head of the Holy See Press Office mentioned that he is not certain whether the College of Cardinals will be deciding the date of the Conclave by the afternoon meeting or not.

If there is any immediate decision on the Conclave date in the afternoon meeting, Fr. Lombardi will announce it through message to journalists at 7 pm Rome time today (Thursday), or corresponding to 6 pm UTC / 1 pm EST / 10 am PST / Friday at 1 am for West Indonesia and UTC+7 areas / Friday at 2 am for Singapore, Malaysia, HK, China, and other UTC+8 areas.

The Fifth General Congregation saw more Cardinals using their chances to speak, with 51 Cardinals having spoken so far in the past five General Congregations. As today’s fifth meeting saw the release of economic reports of the Holy See from several organisations in the Roman Curia handling the Holy See’s economics, some of the Cardinal’s speeches address those economic reports, while others focus more on the role of the Church in charitable works in the world, and the work in ecumenism and dialogue with other religions.

16 interventions were made by the Cardinals today, with 3 interventions dealing with the economic reports as mentioned, and others discussing the matters of the conclave, most importantly the profile, the much needed profile and who the next Pope should be and the necessary qualities he should have, and what is his characteristics that the Cardinals should seek in electing the right person for the position.

A video was shown in the press briefing on the works in the Sistine Chapel and the installation of the chimney and the stoves for burning the ballots, as well as the erasure of Pope Benedict XVI’s coat-of-arms from the Vatican Garden’s large coat-of-arms made with plants and flowers, depicting the Pope’s coat-of-arms. The particular coat-of-arms of Pope Benedict XVI was removed, while the papal tiara and the golden and silver keys of the Papacy remained in place.

The fifth meeting also highlighted issue of the oath of secrecy, which are taken in the case of the Conclave, the General Congregation meeting, as well as when the College deem it necessary for media blackout to be imposed to avoid any unwanted leak of information.

It is not certain at this time whether there will be two meetings tomorrow, Friday, 8 March 2013 as it was today. The confirmed meeting is the morning session’s Seventh General Congregation, which may indeed be the one that decides the Conclave date. After all, Fr. Lombardi made it clear in the press briefing that the Conclave is strictly more a time for solemn prayers and decisions, and voting itself.

All forms of discussions, discernments, speeches, and raising up issues pertaining to the Church should indeed be done at this time, during the General Congregation, and not during the Conclave. Hence, the reason why the General Congregation meetings should not be rushed, but rather be meticulously done, so that when these meetings are over, possibly by this weekend, the Cardinal-electors will be ready to enter the Sistine Chapel for the Conclave, possibly this coming Monday, 11 March 2013.

In the meanwhile, let us continue to pray for the Church, for all our Cardinals, and the Cardinal-electors, and for the smooth proceedings of the remaining General Congregations, as well as the Conclave later.

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Sede Vacante : Which offices are suspended, which ones has important roles and which remains in place during the sede vacante

http://www.gcatholic.org/events/sede-vacante.htm

A superb collection and data collated by GCatholic site, on the list of all offices that are suspended during the Sede Vacante period (that is between the vacancy of the Apostolic See by the death or resignation of the previous Pope, and the election of a new Pope).

The suspended offices are mainly the prefects of the Congregations of the Roman Curia (example : Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith), presidents of the Pontifical Councils (example : Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace), and many other members and offices of the Roman Curia. The new Pope will be able to either confirm them to continue in their respective offices, or choose to replace them with his own preferred candidates.

The offices that continue to be exercised during the Sede Vacante, include the offices that has important roles in the Sede Vacante period and the Conclave, such as the Camerlengo, the Vice-Camerlengo (who seals the papal apartments and destroy the Ring of the Fisherman), several other officers of the Roman Curia, head of the Papal Household (currently Archbishop Georg Ganswein), all the Apostolic Nuncios, Apostolic Delegates, and other diplomatic representatives of the Holy See, whose diplomatic authority remains even during the Sede Vacante.

Amongst the Cardinals themselves and some other officials, there are special duties that they are supposed to carry out during the Conclave, which includes the Cardinal-electors by their order (Bishop, priest, or deacon), in the running of the Conclave, the Papal Master of Ceremonies (currently Monsignor Guido Marini), who is the one stating the ‘extra omnes’ order officially beginning the lockdown of the Conclave, and other offices.

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Sistine Chapel being prepared for the Conclave : Prospects for the Conclave to begin in the next few days

Sistine Chapel, where the Conclave to elect the new Pope will take place has been closed to public since Tuesday afternoon, 5 March 2013. Since then, extensive works had been done on the Sistine Chapel to install the necessary items needed for the Conclave, such as the tables and chairs for the Cardinal-electors, the electrical wiring and equipments needed at the Conclave, and of course most importantly, the two stoves on which the ballots will be burned, and linked to the famous chimney, will be the first sign to the world if a new Pope had been elected.

http://www.romereports.com/palio/sistine-chapel-gets-ready-historic-chimney-brought-in-for-conclave-english-9269.html#.UTdJyVeJegE

As the College of Cardinals hold two General Congregation (Fifth and Sixth) meetings today, and the works for the preparation of the Conclave is going full speed at the moment, we can expect the date to be finalised by today, as the last Cardinal-elector is scheduled to reach Rome on Thursday morning, and the Conclave may begin as reported on Monday, 11 March 2013.

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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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(Live from Rome) Prayer for the Universal Church : Wednesday, 6 March 2013 at 5 pm CET / Rome Time

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, members of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church throughout the world. Let us all join together with the prayers for the Church that will be held today in Rome at 5 pm, and wherever we are in the world, let us spend the time for prayer for the Church, for the Cardinal-electors, and for the election of our new Pope.

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The event will be live from Rome at Vatican Player, at either http://www.vatican.va/video/ or http://player.rv.va/?language=en&visual=VaticanTic. Do join in the prayers, and if you are unable to do so, and still in the workplace or busy with other commitments, just pray in your hearts, for the sake of our Holy Church.

 

Timing :

1. Rome : Wednesday, 6 March 2013 at 5 pm (UTC+1)

2. UTC : Wednesday, 6 March 2013 at 4 pm

3. EST : Wednesday, 6 March 2013 at 11 am (UTC-5)

4. PST : Wednesday, 6 March 2013 at 8 am (UTC-8)

5. WIB : Wednesday, 6 March 2013 at 11 pm (UTC+7) (West Indonesian Time, Bangkok, etc.)

6. Singapore : Thursday, 7 March 2013 at 0.00 am (UTC+8) (Singapore, Malaysia, HK, Macau, China, etc.)

 

The Cardinals, led by the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, will pray together at St. Peter’s Basilica, and also participate in Eucharistic Adoration, led by the Cardinal Dean of the College. Let us pray for them, and pray that the Conclave will begin soon, and a new Pope, and a good Pope can be soon elected.

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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.