Conclave to Elect New Pope to Start on 12 March

RTE News
March 8, 2013

http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/0308/375032-pope/

All of the cardinals eligible to vote have arrived at the Vatican

The Conclave to elect a new pope following the resignation of Pope Benedict will begin on 12 March.

All of the 115 "cardinal electors" under 80 years of age and thus eligible to vote for the next leader of the 1.2 billion-member Church are in Rome and are taking part in the meetings.

Meanwhile, the Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland has urged that Pope Benedict's successor should dispel the climate of fear and repression in the Church.

It has also called on the new pope not to reappoint any of the Vatican's departmental leaders but new people who would introduce new ideas and attitudes.

The association also calls on the new pope to fully implement the second Vatican Council's programme for renewal.

Its statement praises Pope Benedict's resignation for prompting a growing realisation of the need for church reform and renewal.

The association has seen Rome silence members for dissent and urges the new pontiff to dispel what it calls "the climate of fear and repression that has dogged the Church for some decades".

It says it should replace it with one of "openness and tolerance" in which the institution's many serious difficulties can be discussed.