Papal Transition
Cardinals agree to media blackout of pre-conclave meetings
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Citing unauthorized press reports on their preparatory meetings for the upcoming papal election, the College of Cardinals agreed to a media blackout similar to one observed before the previous conclave in 2005. A briefing for journalists by New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan and Chicago Cardinal Francis E. George was cancelled at the last minute March 6. It would have been the third by U.S. cardinals since the start of the meetings.
Cardinals O’Malley, DiNardo: No rush to set date for conclave
ROME (CNS) -- Two U.S. cardinals who will vote in the upcoming papal election say there is no rush to set a date for voting, which could start as late as March 20.
Most cardinal electors in Rome, still no date set for conclave
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- After completing their third pre-conclave meeting, the College of Cardinals still had not announced a date for the conclave. Instead, they used the March 4 and 5 meetings to discuss needs of the church. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said that by the end of the March 5 session, 33 cardinals "from every continent" had addressed the group. The meeting was attended by 148 cardinals. Although he said the cardinals made "no decision" about the start of the conclave, there was a presentation that day about the modifications Pope Benedict XVI made to the conclave rules, allowing the cardinals to begin a conclave less than 15 days after the end of a pontificate.
Panel of lay Catholics weighs in with advice for electing new pope
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Laypeople have a right and duty to offer their ideas to the cardinals who will elect the next pope, one theologian observed as part of a panel of lay Catholics who proposed that characteristics such as joy and diplomacy were important to the selection. The pope matters even beyond the Catholic Church […]
Between popes, a time of speculation and suspense
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The period immediately following a pontificate is one of excited speculation, more or less loose, about the identity of the next pope. Though secrecy rules do not forbid cardinals from naming their preferences, custom and prudence effectively do. In any case, as history shows, once the electors get behind locked doors, their deliberations take on a dynamic impossible to forecast or affect from outside.
Mass at Cathedral offers prayers for papal election
Archbishop Charles J. Chaput will celebrate Mass this Sunday, March 3, at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul, Philadelphia, for the election of a new pope. Confessions begin at 5:30 p.m. and Mass at 6:30. All priests are invited to concelebrate and all the faithful are welcome to attend. Guidelines have been provided to assist everyone in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia during this period of the papal transition to unite all in prayer with the Church and with one another. Archbishop Chaput will offer an additional Mass after the election of the new pope at a date yet to be determined.
Three US cardinals discuss papal candidates, process of choosing pope
ROME (CNS) -- After Pope Benedict XVI left the Vatican and began the last hours of his papacy, Cardinals Sean O'Malley of Boston (pictured), Francis E. George of Chicago and Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston spoke with reporters about the qualities of certain cardinals and what kinds of pope they would make, along with other thoughts about the coming conclave to elect a new pope.
The last flight of Pope Benedict XVI
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI's final trip as pope was a 15-minute helicopter ride from the Vatican to the papal summer villa at Castel Gandolfo.
In farewell to cardinals, Pope Benedict pledges obedience to next pope
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Clementine Hall is traditionally the place where cardinals bid farewell to popes at the end of a pontificate, but usually when the pope in question is lying in state before his funeral. But on Feb. 28, hours before resigning from the papacy, Pope Benedict XVI briefly addressed the College of Cardinals, calling for unity and harmony among the men who will choose his successor and pledging his "unconditional reverence and obedience" to the next pope.
Curial reform ‘reasonable priority’ to help new pope, says US prelate
INDIANAPOLIS (CNS) -- Since Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation Feb. 11, various commentators on church affairs -- and also some church leaders -- said that reforming the Roman Curia needs to be a priority of the next pontiff. Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin, who was named to Indianapolis last October and has several years of firsthand experience of working in and with the curia, said such reform "is a reasonable priority to have, not so much to avoid scandals, but to provide for a government that will help the Holy Father exercise his Petrine service."