conclave date

by

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.

by

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!

by

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.

by

Preliminary News : Conclave to begin on Monday, 11 March 2013 (Confirmation needed from the College of Cardinals)

http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/22827/

According to the Vatican Insider, or La Stampa, which is the best source of objective and accurate news on the Vatican, the date of the Conclave has been set on Monday, 11 March 2013, which they posted on Monday, 4 March 2013, today, on their La Stampa edition.

Confirmation from the Holy See Press Office (Fr. Federico Lombardi) is needed however, as the first General Congregation of the College of Cardinals that meets to decide the starting date of the Conclave only began this morning at 9 am CET or Rome time. Therefore, the starting date of the Conclave may still change, but it is highly expected to occur between Saturday, 9 March 2013 and Monday, 11 March 2013.

We hope then to have a Pope by Thursday, 14 March 2013 at the latest, and hope that in that case, the Papal Installation Mass can be held on Sunday, 17 March 2013, the 5th Sunday of Lent. That we can have the new Pope to lead us in the celebration of the Holy Week, and the residential Cardinals too can go home to celebrate the Holy Week in their respective archdioceses/dioceses.