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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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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.