THE CONCHO PADRE POST

Vatican City, 11 March 2013 (VIS) – In this morning’s 10th and final General Congregation 152 Cardinals were in attendance. Three new members for the Particular Congregation were picked by lot to assist the Cardinal Camerlengo for the next three days in the lesser affairs of the proceedings. The Cardinal assistants chosen were: from the Order of Bishops, Cardinal Antonios Naguib, patriarch emeritus of Alexandria, Egypt; from the Order of Priests, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, P.S.S., prefect of the Congregation for Bishops; and from the Order of Deacons, Cardinal Francesco Monterisi, archpriest emeritus of the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside-the-Walls.

“Twenty-eight cardinals spoke today,” Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., director of the Holy See Press Office reported, “bringing the total number of interventions given during the course of the 10 General Congregations to 161. There was a wide participation, even if some other cardinals would have liked to participate or to speak again. It was, however, decided not to have another Congregation this afternoon in light of the move to the Domus Sanctae Marthae and the preparations for the Conclave.”

This morning, among other topics, the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR) was discussed. “Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, as president of the Commission of Cardinals for oversight of the IOR, presented the current operations of that commission to those present along with the process for adopting the norms of transparency that it has established. Naturally, much was also said about the expectations and hopes for the future Holy Father.”

Fr. Lombardi then provided some information about events that will take place in the next few days.

Around 90 auxiliary personnel will take the oath of secrecy this afternoon at 5:30pm in the Pauline Chapel. The Cardinal Camerlengo will receive the oaths of these persons who will assist in meeting the personal and official needs connected with the election process. (We provide a list of those involved in a separate article below.)

The “pro eligendo Romano Pontifice” Mass will be celebrated in the Vatican Basilica tomorrow, 12 March, at 10:00am. The booklet for the Mass is available on the Vatican website under the section of the Office for Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff. The liturgy will be presided by Cardinal Dean Angelo Sodano and concelebrated by all the cardinals, including the non-voters. During the offertory, a motet (choral musical composition) by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina will be heard.

Beginning tomorrow, Vatican Television will have a camera fixed on the chimney of the Sistine Chapel to capture the images of the “fumate”.

On their seats in the Sistine Chapel, the Cardinal electors will find the Apostolic Constitution “Universi Dominici Gregis”, the “Ordo Rituum Conclavis” (Book of Rites of the Conclave), and a book of the Liturgy of the Hours.

The director of the Holy See Press Office also summarized the final acts of the Conclave as regulated by that text. “If a cardinal gets two-thirds of the vote—the required amount for an election—the Cardinal Dean of the assembly, in this case Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, asks ‘Do you accept your canonical election as Supreme Pontiff?’ After receiving the consent of the one elected he then asks, “By what name do you wish to be called?” Then the Master of Papal Liturgical Celebrations, acting as notary and having two masters of ceremonies as witnesses who are called in at that time, records the new Pope’s acceptance and chosen name. He then proceeds to burn the ballots for the white “fumata” (smoke signalling the election). The new Pope then dresses in the “Room of Tears”—perhaps so-called because of the emotion of the moment. When he returns to the Chapel a Gospel passage connected to the Petrine ministry is read, a brief prayer is given, and the cardinals process, one-by-one to the new pontiff, congratulating him and promising their obedience. The Pope and the cardinals sing the Te Deum together.”

“There is a new aspect to this Conclave,” Fr. Lombardi noted. “The Pope, before going to the balcony at the centre of St. Peter’s Basilica, will stop at the Pauline Chapel to pray before the Blessed Sacrament for a few moments. Then he will go out onto the loggia and greet those gathered with the “Urbi et Orbe” blessing.

Regarding the opening Mass of the new pontificate, Fr. Lombardi explained that it does not have to be celebrated on Sunday, but could occur any day of the week.

Finally, he clarified that the Prefect of the Papal Household, Archbishop Georg Ganswein, the Pope emeritus’ personal secretary, will attend the ceremony of the beginning of the Conclave, as foreseen by his defined duties.

Vatican Information Service

O God, who renew the world
through mysteries beyond all telling,
grant, we pray,
that your Church may be guided by your eternal design
and not be deprived of your help in this present age.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.

The Roman Missal

Vatican workers are preparing the Sistine Chapel for the papal conclave that will begin March 11 by installing electronic jamming devices and a temporary wooden floor.

Determined to prevent leaks from the conclave, the Vatican is installing devices that will block electronic transmissions from the Sistine Chapel and from the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where the cardinal-electors will be lodged during the conclave.

The wooden flooring will protect the marble floors of the Sistine Chapel, and also safeguard the prelates against tripping on the unevenly worn marble. Tables and chairs will be set up to accommodate the 115 cardinals participating in the conclave.

Spokesmen for the Vatican Museums disclosed that they would temporarily remove climate-control sensors from the Sistine Chapel, since the devices might be mistaken for electronic bugs.

Catholic World News

O God,
through your Word reconcile the human race
to yourself in a wonderful way,
grant, we pray,
that with prompt devotion and eager faith
the Christian people may hasten
toward the solemn celebrations to come.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.

The Roman Missal

Vatican City, 9 March 2013 (VIS) – The chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel, which will emit the smoke to indicating the election (white smoke) or non-election (black smoke) of a pope, was installed this morning, three days before the Conclave is scheduled to begin. That, however, is not the only change taking place in the chapel. Vatican Television is recording the preparations and those images are then distributed to all media outlets that request it for broadcasting around the world.

Work began on Tuesday, 5 March, at 1:00pm when restorers, electricians, mechanics, carpenters, seamstresses, assemblers, electronic technicians and other labourers from various areas of competence suddenly replaced the hundreds of tourists who visit the Sistine Chapel every day. “The Chapel is closed to the public. We are preparing for the Conclave,” employees respond to the questions asked by perplexed visitors who are trying to finish their tour of the Vatican Museums with a glimpse of Michelangelo’s “Creation of Adam”.

Journalists are already in the know. The Director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., has been holding daily press conferences, giving a general overview of the proceedings of the General Congregations and explaining the images of the preparations that are being carried out around Vatican City. From within the Sistine Chapel we see scaffolding around the stoves that will burn the ballots to erect the stove pipe that releases the smoke from the roof of the chapel, shorter tubing for the scaffolding that will elevate the floor and create a uniform area to work on, lengths of cloth and the seamstresses sowing them together to create table covers…

On Wednesday, 6 March, for example, Vatican Television provided raw video of workers installing a large platform for the chimney and flooring sheets over the original mosaic pavement, both to protect the mosaics and to make it easier to build the elevated floor above it, which will provide the cardinals with an even expanse to walk and work upon.

Around the altar, 115 cherry wood chairs have been put in place, each engraved with the name of the cardinal who will occupy it, with 12 wooden tables covered in beige and bordeaux fabric where the cardinals will prepare their ballots. They will cast their votes in front of Michelangelo’s fresco of “The Last Judgment” on the wall of the altar.

After the chimney is installed it will be submitted to a series of tests using chemicals to emit a yellow smoke so as not to confuse the increased number of passers-by in St. Peter’s Square. The chimney is just the last piece of the mechanism that will produce the smoke. The two iron stoves it is attached to were installed yesterday. The first stove, cast in 1938, has the dates of the five Conclaves it has been used in etched upon it—from the one electing Pius XII in 1939 until the latest, in 2005, when Cardinal Ratzinger became Benedict XVI.

This older oven is used to burn the balloting papers. The modern one, equipped with an electronic device, will add the chemicals to produce the black or white smoke indicating the result of the voting until the election occurs. There are two voting sessions planned for each morning and each afternoon that the Conclave continues. At the moment, the chimney is at the centre of the media’s curiosity. Next Tuesday afternoon it will hold the attention of millions around the world.

Besides the Cardinal electors, the only others who will be present in the Sistine Chapel are the Master of Papal Liturgical Celebrations and Cardinal Prospero Grech, O.S.A., who will preach the second meditation provided for in No. 13 of the Apostolic Constitution “Universi Dominici Gregis” to the Cardinal electors.

Vatican Information Service