Lombardi: " a Overwhelming Majority Immediately Voted the Date of the Conclave"

By Alessandro Speciale
Vatican Insider
March 9, 2013

http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/news/detail/articolo/conclave-23027/

the Sistine Chapel

The “fumata” could be expected around 12:00pm or around 7:00pm. Monday the last General Congregation will be held

It is not true that the College of Cardinals is split in half: in fact, according to the Vatican spokesman father Federico Lombardi, yesterday the Cardinals voted with a very large majority ("approximately ten to one") to open the Conclave that will elect the successor of Pope Benedict XVI next Tuesday.

During his usual briefing at the Vatican, the Vatican spokesman joked with reporters: "I'm sorry that we are approaching the end of this period of daily meetings", and he immediately refuted the rumours of divisions and fractures among the Cardinals who will enter the Conclave next week.

Lombardi explained that during yesterday afternoon's General Congregation (the eighth since the beginning of the sede vacante), the Dean of the Sacred College Cardinal Angelo Sodano immediately began the process of voting on the Conclave's beginning date. And already at the first vote there was an overwhelming majority in favour of Tuesday the 12th, stressed the spokesman.

The Director of the Vatican Press Office also gave some information on the calendar of events for the upcoming days: it all starts in the afternoon of March 11th with the oath of the auxiliary staff of the Conclave in the Pauline Chapel; then on March 12th the Cardinals will move to Domus Sanctae Marthae before the mass "Pro Eligendo Romano Pontifice " at 10 AM in St. Peter's basilica. Then, in the afternoon, there will be the entrance of the electors in the Sistine Chapel for the opening rites: the sermon by the Augustinian Maltese Cardinal Prosper Grech and the "extra omnes". Finally, with the consent of the Cardinal-electors, the first vote.

During the days of the Conclave, the production of smoke from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, installed today, is forecasted at about 7 PM and at about 12noon.  But, if the election happens after the first of the two votes that take place each morning and afternoon, then the white smoke could be seen mid-morning (10:30-11:00 AM) or mid-afternoon (05:30-06:00 PM).

The Commission that must seal the entrances to the Conclave was established today and is composed of the Camerlengo, Cardinal Bertone, the Substitute of the Secretariat of State, Mgr. Becciu, and by members of the Swiss Guard and the Gendarmerie.

After the successful election and the announcement of the name from the Loggia, father Lombardi assumes that there will be at least a 40 minutes wait or more. There are in fact two important rites to accomplish: the acceptance by the elected, and the Declaration of obedience and loyalty by the Cardinals. Smoke and bells will announce the new Pope before the greeting from the Basilica's central Loggia.

Meanwhile, yesterday afternoon, this morning and next Monday during the last General Congregation, the Cardinals' speeches will continue. Before the entrance into the Sistine Chapel, there will have been a total of about 150 of them, said Lombardi, who, for the first time, explicitly said that among the topics on the table was "the work of the Curia and its improvement".

And with the Conclave approaching, the destruction of the seals and of the Papal ring took place. In total, Lombardi explained, five objects were ‘biffati’ (scratched out) with a cross-shaped marking: the "Pope's Fisherman's ring", its reproduction to stamp documents, two stamps of different dimension, and the master lead seal of the pontificate that is used for papal bulls. The new "Fisherman's ring" will be the like the one that was destroyed but, of course, it will have the inscription of the new pontiff's name.

Finally, the Vatican spokesman spoke in defence of Cardinal Giuseppe Calcagno, President of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See: he, recalled Lombardi, was proclaimed innocent both by the Church and by ordinary justice.