The Conclave to Begin on the 11th of March -- 115 Electors as in 2005

(Vatican) The Swiss Guard was removed, the window of the papal apartment remained closed on Sunday. In St. Peter's Square in Rome no public Angelus was recited. Believers prayed yesterday the Rosary and the Angelus by themselves on the main square of  Christendom. During worship the Pope and Bishop of Rome is no longer mentioned in the Eucharistic Prayer. Since this morning, 9.30  the first General Congregation of the Sacred College has been meeting for the beginning of the interregnum.

Many cardinals have yet to meet in Rome. Once the number is correct, they will decide the start of the papal election. There are signs, however, everything indicates that the Conclave will be brought forward by a few days, and will begin on Monday, 11 March. The earliest possible start would have been 15th March at the earliest.  In a short time before his resignation, Benedict XVI. enacted a Motu Proprio to enable the cardinals, when completely assembled, to set an earlier date.

They will make use of it. The Cardinals will be celebrating Holy Mass in a week in the morning in St. Peter’s,  Pro eligendo Romano Pontifice, celebrated by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Dean of Cardinals. Afterwards, the papal electors, the College of Cardinals will issue in procession and the invocation of the Holy Spirit with the Pentecostal hymn Veni Creator Spiritus in the Sistine Chapel, where they will be enclosed until the election of a new pope and hermetically sealed from the outside world.

As with  2005, the 2013 conclave of 117 cardinals has  exactly 115 who will participate. This is the highest number of papal electors in Church history. At least 77 votes will be required for the election of the new Pope.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Vatican Insider

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