The morning session on the second day of the Conclave 2013 has yet again ended without an agreement on a new Pope.
The election will continue this afternoon with at least one, if not two ballots. Smoke signals are to be expected at either 5:30 or 7 p.m. local time.
With this Decree (motu proprio), the Pope grants the Cardinals to bring forward the start of the conclave, as soon as all papal electors have arrived in Rome, said Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi. Recently there had been speculations over an earlier meeting of the Conclave, after several cardinals had apparently voted for it.
The bringing forward of the Conclave, to the first half of March, will allow Benedict’s successor to better prepare for the Holy Week starting on March 24, and Easter which is on on March 31. There had been speculations in Rome now for days about a conclave beginning on the 10th or 11th of March. The date of the beginning of the Conclave is expected to be announced by end of Benedict’s pontificate.
Benedict XVI. announced his resignation for the upcoming Thursday – February 28. The rules which had been defined by Benedict’s predecessor John Paul II. in the Apostolic Constitution “Universi Dominici Gregis” in 1996, provided that the conclave has to start between 15 and 20 days after the Holy See has become vacant. The timeframe should allow the Cardinals from around the world to go to Rome. This time however, numerous Cardinals have already gathered in the Vatican to bid farewell to Benedict.
Lombardi had recently declared, the rules for the meeting of the conclave were designed for the case that a pope dies. With the resignation of Benedict XVI., the situation is different, and “it is possible to interpret the rules differently”. It is crucial that all Cardinals are gathered, and with the resignation announcement they had more time to do so.
The 117 Cardinals eligible to vote, which may not be older than 80 years, will hold their Conclave in secret sessions in the Sistine Chapel. According to current knowledge, two eligible Cardinals will not participate in any way in the election – Cardinal Julius Riyadi Darmaatmadja from Indonesia and the retired Scottish Cardinal O’Brien.
“The ballots must be rectangular and must contain if possible in the upper half of the printed form the words: Eligo in Summum Pontificem, while the lower half must remain free to write the name of the selected here.” So it is written in section 65 of the Apostolic Constitution “Universi Dominici Gregis” of Pope John Paul II, the Pope’s election regulations currently in effect for the Conclave.
Papal voting card
But not only the nature of the ballot is regulated in detail. The Pope election rules dating back to 1996, which were changed in one point by Benedict XVI in 2007, contain some strict provisions, which go far beyond the election process itself.
The Dean of the College of Cardinals shall preside at the election, unless he is over 80 and thus no longer eligible to vote. In this case, he will be replaced by the Vice-Dean. If he is also over 80, the oldest of the highest ranking Cardinals takes over. This scenario will occur in the current conclave. Dean Angelo Sodano and Subdean Roger Etchegaray are over 80, so the 79-year-old retired Prefect of the Congregation of Bishops Giovanni Battista Re will take over the presidency of the conclave.
During the conclave, the cardinals will reside in the premises of the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the guest house of the Vatican. The rooms are – mandatory by the electoral law – allocated by lottery. In addition to the Cardinals a few more people are involved, who need to swear under oath their ‘obligation to secrecy’. These include, among others, “two doctors for emergencies”, “some religious priests of different languages for confession” and “an appropriate number” of people “for service and cleaning.”
Sistine chapel
Therefore Cardinal Lubomyr Husar from the Ukraine, born on Feb 26 1933, is not eligible to vote.
The conclave to choose the successor to Pope Benedict XVI. will take place 15 to 20 days after the beginning of the interregnum, after the resignation of Joseph Ratzinger on February 28. “If everything goes smoothly, it can be assumed, that the Conclave begins on the 15th of March”, the Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said on Wednesday at a press conference.
To determine the date for the beginning of the conclave, the Cardinals will meet for daily general Congregations , Lombardi reported. At these meetings, all incurred duties of the church are treated. This “Pre-Conclave” must also prepare the papal election.
In these Congregation meetings there are also permitted Cardinals aged over 80, that cannot participate in the elections. The panel is expected to include 117 cardinals. According to the Vatican, it should be clear until Easter, who will be the new pope. For the election of a pope, there are well-defined, strict rules.