Seventh

by

Seventh General Congregation of the College of Cardinals, and the Eighth (decision on the Conclave date)

During the Seventh General Congregation of the College of Cardinals this Friday morning, 8 March 2013, the College of Cardinals had accepted the letters of the two Cardinals who are unable to attend the Conclave due to health issue (Cardinal Darmaatmadja of Jakarta) and other reasons (Cardinal O’Brien of Scotland, UK), according to the provisions of the Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Gregis and the modifications in the Motu Proprio Normas Nonnullas.

The morning meeting had also discussed the modifications made on the Article 37 of the Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Gregis, which deals on the earliest starting date of the Conclave, which originally must be at least 15 days from the Vacancy of the Apostolic See, but then because the modifications made by the Motu Proprio Normas Nonnullas, which provided for a waiver of the 15 days waiting period, allow for an earlier start providing all the Cardinal-electors are already in Rome.

As all the Cardinal-electors are already in Rome, they can immediately decide on when to begin the Conclave, which is scheduled to be done and voted in the Eighth General Congregation on Friday afternoon. Fr. Federico Lombardi confirmed that the Conclave will not begin either tomorrow (Saturday) or Sunday. The Conclave is likely to begin either Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday (11-13 March 2013)

There will be only one General Congregation session on Saturday morning, that is the Ninth General Congregation of the College of Cardinals. The Cardinals too may go and visit (may not be all of them) their titular Churches in Rome (I will publish the list of the titular Churches for each Cardinals, and if possible, the addresses of each in Rome, in case anyone looking to meet any of the Cardinals in Rome for the Sunday Mass) for Sunday Mass to pray for the election of the new Pope and for the Conclave. Each of the Cardinals are given a titular church in Rome upon his appointment as a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church.

Cardinal Prosper Grech from Malta, who is a Cardinal non-elector, will be the one giving out the second of the two meditations as mandated by the Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Gregis, to be given out prior to the beginning of the Conclave.

18 Cardinals spoke in the morning meeting and several inteventions had also been made, on several issues from rules of the Conclave to other matters. Issues covered are bioethics, interreligious dialogue, collegiality, role of the Church in the world, in justice, and others.

A video is shown to the reporters during the press briefing by Fr. Federico Lombardi, head of the Holy See Press Office, on Friday afternoon, on the place where the Cardinal-electors will reside during the duration of the Conclave (currently the Cardinals are staying in different locations in Rome, but will move in to the place after the Conclave begins), which is called Domus Sancta Marthae, commissioned by the late Blessed Pope John Paul II, and was also used in the 2005 Conclave. Shown was the spartan but comfortable lodgings of the Cardinal-electors. The Cardinals will be assigned the rooms randomly.

Add : 220,000 people had ‘adopted’ a Cardinal through the Adopt a Cardinal website, and pray for them during this period.

by

College of Cardinals are voting and deciding for the date of the start of the Conclave : this Friday afternoon

Fr. Federico Lombardi had announced that the Cardinals are voting and therefore in the process of deciding the date of the start of the Conclave, most likely in an additional afternoon session, the Eighth General Congregation, on Friday late afternoon today.

The Cardinals had decided in the Sixth General Congregation meeting last evening (Thursday) that there would be two General Congregation sessions today (Friday) in the morning (Seventh) and the afternoon (Eighth), when the Cardinals likely will vote on the date of the start of the Conclave.

The news of the date of the Conclave, if there is any decision reached by today, will be released shortly at Friday evening, 8 March 2013 after 7 pm.

by

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!

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.