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The Conclave has begun

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As of now, everything remains secret

Shortly after 4:30 p.m., time had come: accompanied by the singings of the Holy ,the 115 voting Cardinals moved into the Sistine Chapelon for the election of the 266. Pope. After the oath of secrecy, all except the voting Cardinals left the chapel. The doors of the Sistine Chapel were closed at 5:35 p.m., by the Master of Ceremonies Marini.
A first round of voting on Tuesday was considered likely. If this is the case, the smoke signal is expected at about 7:00 p.m.

Vatican installed “smoke cam”

The Vatican has launched a new service on its website: During the times when white or black smoke is to be expected, a video stream from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel will be available. The Vatican television service CTV has installed its own camera at about 10 yards distance from the chimney.

The LIVE STREAM can be found here: LIVE STREAM

After each of the two rounds of voting in the morning and afternoon, there will be a smoke signal, which should occur at about noon and 7:00 p.m.. In case the new Pope was elected in the first or third round of voting, the signal with white smoke for the successful election is given immediately. This would be around 10:30 a.m. or 5:30 p.m..

Admonitory words just before the Conclave

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Sodano conjures up the unity of the Church

With a solemn mass in the St. Peter’s Basilica, the Cardinals geared up for the Conclave to elect a new Pope. In the “Missa pro eligendo Romano Pontefice” the Church dignitaries prayed for the assistance of the Holy Spirit for the decision on the head of the Roman Catholic Church.

In the afternoon they then will adjourn to the Sistine Chapel, where the election Benedict XVI’s successor will take place in a closed session. The 85-year-old German had resigned in late February as the first Pope in nearly 600 years.

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Dean of Cardinals, Angelo Sodano, called on God to help them make the right choice: “We implore the Lord, that through the pastoral solicitude of the cardinal fathers, He may soon grant another good shepherd to his Holy Church. In this hour, faith in the promise of Christ sustains us in the indefectible character of the Church.” He also called up for the unity of the Church, which has been shaken by numerous scandals in recent years.

The last Mass before the Conclave in 2005 April, was led by the then prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Ratzinger, who came out of the Conclave as the new Pope. Ratzinger’s sermon was like a preview to the theological orientation of his pontificate.

“Unity of the Church” is in demand

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Conclave will start on Tuesday March 12

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The Vatican has just announced that the Conclavce is to start on Tuesday March 12, 2013.

After almost a week of consultations, the College of Cardinals has finally fixed a date for the beginning of the Conclave that will take place at the premises of the Sistine Chapel.

As the week progressed, the question of a fundamental reform of the Curia, after the scandals that shattered the church in recent years, became a crucial issue among the Cardinals. This topic has become the central point in the negotiations.

The negotiations to find a successor to Benedict XVI., are proving to be more difficult than expected, as indicated by the long wait for only the starting date.

The Conclave to elect the new head of the Roman Catholic Church is preceded by intensive understandings and agreements between different “popemakers” in the General Congregations. Shepherd or diplomat, Italian or alien, conservative or reformer.

St. Malachy’s prophecies – the prophecy of the Popes

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By the prophecies of Irish St. Malachy the next pope will be last, will be known as Peter of Rome and a great Armageddon will happen during his papacy.

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With the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, the first pontiff to step down in almost 600 years, Malachy’s prophecy has garnered renewed attention — not least because, on Malachy’s list, Benedict was number 111.

The Prophecy of the Popes (Latin: Prophetia Sancte Malachiae Archiepiscopi, de Summis Pontificibus) is a series of 112 short, cryptic phrases in Latin which purport to predict the Roman Catholic popes (along with a few antipopes), beginning with Pope Celestine II. The alleged prophecies were first published by Benedictine monk Arnold de Wyon in 1595. Wyon attributes the prophecies to Saint Malachy, a 12th‑century Archbishop of Armagh, Ireland.

Malachy used a short phrase in Latin to describe each Pope, beginning with Celestine II and “From a castle on the Tiber.” That Pope’s birth name was Guido di Castello.

More recently, he described Pope John Paul I. with the phrase: “From the midst of the moon.” His reign, which began in 1978, began with the moon half full and lasted only one month – or one moon.

He was followed by Pope John Paul II. by the Latin expression “Laboris Solis” – or translated “From the labor of the sun” – an expression meaning a solar eclipse.
As it turned out, John Paul II was the only known pope to be born on the day of a solar eclipse – and he was buried on the day of a solar eclipse.

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General Congregations day 3: Still no date for Conclave

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Today, preparations for the election of a successor to Pope Benedict XVI. continued, but still no date announced for the conclave.

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi reported after the fourth meeting before the Conclave, that 153 Cardinals were present on Wednesday, 113 of them under the age of 80 and thus eligible to vote. Yet, the last two papal electors are to arrive in Rome until Thursday. These are Polish Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz and the Vietnamese Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man. On Thursday, two General Gongregations are held in the morning and in the afternoon.

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Climate “very fraternal”

The climate at the meeting on Wednesday  was very fraternal, Lombardi told the press. The Dean of the College of Cardinals, Angelo Sodano, congratulated some Cardinals, who celebrate their birthday these days. Among them is also the German Cardinal Walter Kasper, who will celebrate his 80. birthday on Monday.

The consultations took place behind closed doors in the Synod Hall and were headed by Dean of Cardinals Sodano. Applicable duties of the Church were treated in the General Congregation. 18 Cardinals came forward to speak on Wednesday, and so far there were 51 speeches of Cardinals since the beginning of the General Congregations on Monday. Topics included the need for a new evangelization, the relations between the Vatican and the episcopates of the individual countries, as well as the profile of the new Pope, Lombardi reported.

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College of Cardinals in charge of Church

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During the “Sede Vacante”, the College of Cardinals leads the Church. But its powers are limited to tasks and decisions which can not be postponed.

Decrees, issued by the Popes, must not be corrected or changed during this time.The interim administration of the Church is run by the Camerlengo and his three Cardinal assistants. The College of Cardinals prepares in particular the election of the new Pope.

With the beginning of the “Sede Vacante”, the Catholic Church and the Vatican State are temporarily run by the College of Cardinals. The Dean of the College, ex-Cardinal Angelo Sodano (85), invited the 208 cardinals to General congregations in the Apostolic Palace, held daily until the start of the conclave.

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115 Cardinals at the Conclave

Since many cardinals already gathered in the Vatican, the meeting will start on Monday. Key task is to determine the start date for the conclave, that could possibly begin on the weekend a few days later. Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said: “As of today, 115 cardinals will be coming to the Vatican to elect a new Pope. Benedict XVI. paved the way for a quick appointment of a date just a few days ago.

Longer stay at Castel Gandolfo

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Pope Benedict XVI’s Farewell Speech Transcript

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Pope Benedict XVI. gave his final General audience address in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Wednesday, just a day before his voluntary resignation.

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Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood!
Distinguished Authorities!
Dear brothers and sisters!
Thank you for coming in such large numbers to this last General Audience of my pontificate.

Like the Apostle Paul in the Biblical text that we have heard, I feel in my heart that I have to especially thank God who guides and builds up the Church, who plants His Word and thus nourishes the faith in His People. At this moment my heart expands and embraces the whole Church throughout the world and I thank God for the ‘news’ that, in these years of my Petrine ministry, I have received about the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and for the love that truly circulates in the Body of the Church, making it to live in the love and the hope that opens us to and guides us towards the fullness of life, towards our heavenly homeland.

I feel I ought to carry everyone in prayer, in a present that is God’s, where I recall every meeting, every voyage, every pastoral visit. I gather everyone and every thing in prayerful recollection, in order to entrust them to the Lord: in order that we might have full knowledge of His will, with every wisdom and spiritual understanding, and in order that we might comport ourselves in a manner that is worthy of Him, of His, bearing fruit in every good work (cf. Col 1:9-10).

At this moment I have great confidence because I know, we all know, that the Gospel’s Word of truth is the strength of the Church; it is her life. The Gospel purifies and renews, bearing fruit, wherever the community of believers hears it and welcomes God’s grace in truth and in love. This is my confidence, this is my joy.

When, on 19 April almost eight years ago I accepted to take on the Petrine ministry, I had the firm certainty that has always accompanied me: this certainty for the life of the Church from the Word of God. At that moment, as I have already expressed many times, the words that resounded in my heart were: Lord, what do You ask of me? It is a great weight that You are placing on my shoulders but, if You ask it of me, I will cast my nets at your command, confident that You will guide me, even with all my weaknesses. And eight years later I can say that the Lord has guided me. He has been close to me. I have felt His presence every day. It has been a stretch of the Church’s path that has had moments of joy and light, but also difficult moments. I felt like St. Peter and the Apostles in the boat on the Sea of Galilee. The Lord has given us many days of sunshine and light breezes, days when the fishing was plentiful, but also times when the water was rough and the winds against us, just as throughout the whole history of the Church, when the Lord seemed to be sleeping. But I always knew that the Lord is in that boat and I always knew that the boat of the Church is not mine, not ours, but is His. And the Lord will not let it sink. He is the one who steers her, of course also through those He has chosen because that is how He wanted it. This was and is a certainty that nothing can tarnish. And that is why my heart today is filled with gratitude to God, because He never left—the whole Church or me—without His consolation, His light, or His love.

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