Category Archives: General Congregations

In the General Congregations category we talk about meetings of the Cardinals before the Conclave.

U.S. Cardinals canceled daily press conferences

Posted on by
Reply

The American cardinals have suspended daily press conferences in Rome during the General Congregations at the request of the entire College of Cardinals.

 

“A little less conversation, a little more action, please.
All this aggravation ain’t satisfactionin’ me.”

According to the U.S. Conference of Bishops, the Cardinals thus followed a request of the College of Cardinals, which currently meets in Rome to discuss the situation of the Catholic Church and to prepare for the election. The College of Cardinals has thus highlighted the confidentiality of the interview content.

press-conference

The Vatican did not comment on the decision. However, spokesman Federico Lombardi noted that Cardinals from other countries had not held such press conferences. Lombardi said that the decision of the Americans did not surprise him. There is a general need for “utmost restraint” in the run-up to the Conclave. Earlier, reports of discussions between Cardinals from the United States, Germany and Italy about the Conclave and the papal elections were surfaced in Italian media.

Continue reading →

General Congregations day 3: Still no date for Conclave

Posted on by
Reply

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.

general-congregations-2

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.

Continue reading →

Pope-election: U.S. Cardinals want time to talk

Posted on by
Reply

The U.S. Cardinals participating in the General Congregations for the preparation of the Conclave in the Vatican, want to take more time for discussions in regard to the election of the new Pope.

“This is the most important decision that some of us will ever make, and we need to give it the time that’s necessary,” Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston told journalists on Tuesday, after the second day of the pre-conclave meeting known as the General Congregation.

“I believe the feeling of the cardinals is we want to have enough time in the General Congregation so that when we go to the Conclave itself, it’s a time of a decision,” Cardinal O’Malley said. “The General Congregation is the time of discernment, and as much time as we need for discernment in prayer, reflection and getting information, then we need to use as much time as we have.”

Difficult task

On the question of whether the abuse scandals will complicate the choice of the future Pope, O’Malley replied: “The challenge for the Church is huge, and it is obvious that this complicates the election of a new Pope”

The Vatican continued preparations for the election of a successor of Pope Benedict XVI. on Tuesday. According to the Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, 110 of the 115 cardinals under 80 who are eligible and expected to vote for the next Pope were present at the General Congregation March 5. The date of the beginning of the Conclave could thus be announced on Wednesday March 6.
Lombardi also told that, contrary to rumors, Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man, from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, was expected to arrive March 7.

It is expected that the conclave that elects the successor of Pope Benedict XVI., who resigned for reasons of age, will start next week. Thus the new Pope should be set in time for Easter.

Start of Conclave: Decision expected on Wednesday

Posted on by
Reply

Also on Tuesday, there was still no decision on the beginning of the Conclave in Rome. Five of Cardinals eligible to vote have still not arrived. The date is expected to be set on Wednesday.

Still no date is fixed for the election of a new Pope. A consultation of the Cardinals already gathered in Rome on Tuesday morning, had come to an end without a decision on the beginning of the Conclave, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi reported at a press conference at the Sala Stampa on Tuesday. The decision was expected for Wednesday.

Instead, the Cardinals formulated a telegram to the retired Pope. Therein, they thanked him for his service to the universal Church. In the telegram, that was published by the Vatican, the participants in the preparatory circle for the Conclave expressed the “Gratitude of the whole Church” for Benedict’s “tireless work in the Lord’s wineyard”. “In the end, the members of the College of Cardinals are counting on your prayers for them and the entire Holy Church”, it says in the letter signed by Dean of Cardinal Angelo Sodano.

110 Eligible voters on-site

According to Lombardi, 110 of the expected 115 Cardinals eligible to vote the new Pope have already arrived in Rome. The remaining five, among them the German Cardinal Karl Lehmann, were expected anytime soon. On Tuesday morning, Polish Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski and Cardinal Antonio Rouco Varela from Madrid had taken the oath to comply with the secrecy and the Conclave rules.

Already on Monday, the other present Cardinals had sworn the oath. Each individually stepped forward, put his hand on the Bible and vowed “rigorous secrecy with regard to all matters in any way related to the election of the Roman pontiff,” like defined in the Apostolic Constitution “Universi Dominici Gregis” by John Paul II in 1996.

No absolute ban on speaking

Continue reading →