Day six of preparations

The eighth General Congregation of the College of Cardinals took place yesterday evening from 5:00pm until 7:00pm. In attendance were 145 cardinals.

Two newly arrived cardinals were sworn in, neither of which is a Cardinal elector: Cardinal Miguel Obando Bravo, S.D.B., Archbishop emeritus of Managua, Nicaragua; and Cardinal Gaudencio Borbon Rosales, Archbishop emeritus of Manila, Philippines.

The Cardinal Dean proposed a vote on the date to begin the Conclave. As preparations in the Domus Sanctae Marthae and the Sistine Chapel will still be under way, the first proposal was to begin the Conclave on Tuesday, 12 March. The proposal was accepted by overwhelming majority.

The cardinals’ interventions then continued. Fifteen cardinals spoke.

The ninth General Congregation took place this morning from 9:30am until 12:30pm.

By the time fixed for the beginning of the election of the Supreme Pontiff, all the Cardinal electors must have been assigned and must have taken up suitable lodging in the Domus Sanctae Marthae, recently built in Vatican City. (UDG, 42) 

The Cardinal Dean proposed that the Cardinal electors move into their rooms at the Domus Sanctae Marthae on the morning of Tuesday 12 March, the day that the Conclave will begin, beginning at 7:00am. After a short discussion the proposal was accepted by the majority of Cardinal electors.

Later on in the course of today's Congregation, the rooms where each Cardinal elector will reside at the Domus were assigned by lot, in accordance with the provisions outlined in the Apostolic Constitution.

The cardinals’ interventions then continued. Seventeen cardinals spoke. In total, therefore, there have been at least 133 interventions during the course of the General Congregations. Topics included, among other themes previously reported: 

• expectations regarding the new Pope, 
• how to improve the service of the Roman Curia, 
• information regarding wider areas of the Church, etc.

The Cardinals were informed that the Pro eligendo Romano Pontifice Mass will be concelebrated by all the Cardinals at 10:00am on the morning of 12 March, and will be presided over by the Cardinal Dean. They were also presented with the schedule of entry into Conclave which will take place on Tuesday afternoon (beginning with a procession from the Pauline Chapel to the Sistine Chapel at 4:30pm) and the general schedule of daily procedures during the Conclave.

This coming Monday, 11 March, the final General Congregation will take place and many cardinals are already signed up to present interventions on that day.

During the press conference other information was also given:

• Tomorrow, Sunday, various cardinals will celebrate Mass at their titular churches. It will be a beautiful opportunity for them to pray with the people of God at this important moment in the life of the Church.
• On Monday afternoon at 5:30pm in the Pauline Chapel, all the auxiliary personnel needed to ensure the smooth operations of the Conclave will take the oath of secrecy. Their oaths will be received by the Cardinal Camerlengo, His Eminence, Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone, SDB.
• His Holiness, Benedict XVI's Fisherman's Ring—which exists in two forms, the ring itself and as a stamp used to seal documents—as well as two stamps and the master lead seal for papal documents have been destroyed. Their images were scratched out in the form of a cross with a burin (a chisel-like graving tool).
• The new Pope's Ring of the Fisherman will bear the identical image of Peter casting his net, but will have the new pontiff's name inscribed above the image.
• The commission that, under the direction of the Camerlengo, will seal the entrances to the areas of the Conclave and carry out the other operations necessary for the safeguarding of the Conclave was established.
• During the course of the morning, the chimney that will release the fumata (when the ballots from each voting session are burned) was installed on the roof of the Sistine Chapel.