Conclave

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Tuesday, 5 March 2013 : 3rd Week of Lent (Scripture Reflection)

Forgiveness is not an easy thing to be done. It is a difficult thing to do, but yet also a very noble virtue. Forgiveness allow us to transcend hatred and evil, and allow us to break free from that cycle of hatred and death, and instead enter into the realm of love and compassion. For love is not complete without forgiveness, and how can we truly love someone if we have something between us and that person, that we have yet to forgive?

God loves us and He will never leave us in trouble. Just like the king, if we humble ourselves, and throw ourselves at the feet of the Lord, God will surely have pity on us and be merciful. But there is of course limit to God’s mercy, and there is also something that we have to do, that is to truly transform ourselves, to prove to the Lord that we are truly regretful and repentant of all our sins and faults.

How to do that? Not to do public penance and awesome lamentations, and neither do we fast in public and show our regret, but what matters is, our heart. A contrite heart and a broken spirit, that seeks the Lord for healing and forgiveness. These are what the Lord truly wants from us, as these are the sign of our sincerity and our true love for Him, instead of love that is hidden beneath layers of pride and self-vanity.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us use this holy and fruitful season of Lent, to forgive one another of the faults we have made, either intentionally or unintentionally. Let us reach out to one another in forgiveness and in sincere love, that in doing so, we too show our great love for the Lord. Do not keep grudge for one another, and do not hate, no matter how great the temptations are, for to hate is to bring ourselves into sin, and into evil, and finally into death and separation from God.

Give thanks to the Lord for all the wonders He had given us, for all the guidance He had given us, especially through difficult times, and let us always strive to orient ourselves towards Him and place Him at the centre of our life. Through regular and constant attendance of the Holy Mass, devotions and prayers, and asking His glorious saints and blesseds to pray for us, our faith and our love for God, and for man alike will only ever grow stronger and stronger.

Pray for one another, and especially now that the Church is preparing for the Conclave, let us also pray for the Cardinals that they can elect a new Pope who is loving, faithful, and filled with the Holy Spirit in his leadership of God’s people on this world. Amen.

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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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2013 Papal Conclave : Images and Resources on the Conclave, what will happen, where it takes place, who will be there, and others

Click to access conclave.pdf

Image on the details of the locations to be used in the upcoming Papal Conclave (Domus Sancta Marthae, Sistine Chapel). The image is the same one as the one used for after the death of Blessed Pope John Paul II and preparation of the conclave that elected our Pope Benedict XVI, now Pope Emeritus.

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A concise image containing the summary of most you need to know about the conclave, the location, the procedure, and the rough summary of the Cardinals, which country has the most, and what happened when a new Pope is elected (and how to know if he is elected – fumata bianca/white smoke), and length of some past conclaves.

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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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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).

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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.