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The best in Catholic news from across the Archdiocese of Perth
Cardinals need time to talk before conclave, spokesman says
When 115 cardinal electors gather in the Sistine Chapel for the conclave to elect a new pope, they will be praying and voting four times a day.
Voting for new pope to begin March 12
Cardinal electors assembled in Rome will begin voting for the next pope March 12. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, announced the date for the start of the election, known as a conclave, in a message to reporters March 8.
Cardinals agree to media blackout of pre-conclave meetings
Citing unauthorized press reports on their preparatory meetings for the upcoming papal election, the College of Cardinals agreed to a media blackout similar to one observed before the previous conclave in 2005.
Conclave is more a time of discernment than election, prelate says
The process of selecting a new pope is “ultimately not an election, ultimately it is a discernment,” said Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington.
Sistine Chapel goes from tourist magnet to polling place for pope
The Sistine Chapel’s transformation from a world-famous tourist site to the prayer-filled space where cardinal electors will choose the next pope is under way.
Cardinals face issue of Catholics embracing faith, but not the church
A major issue facing today’s U.S. Catholic Church is that many people express “absolutely no problem with faith, but they do have a problem with religion,” said New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan.
Every cardinal in his place: Internal ranking determines seating chart
In their general congregation meetings, in liturgical processions and in the Sistine Chapel, every cardinal has a place and each cardinal knows his place. The Vatican calls it “precedence,” and it has little to do with the importance of the cardinal’s day job, the size of his diocese or his age. But it has everything to do with timing.
Panel of lay Catholics weighs in with advice for electing new pope
Laypeople have a right and duty to offer their ideas to the cardinals who will elect the next pope, one theologian observed as part of a panel of lay Catholics who proposed that characteristics such as joy and diplomacy were important to the selection.
Seminarians reflect on Pope Benedict’s ministry, their own vocations
Doustou and fellow seminarians Rhett Williams and Deacons Scott Holmer and Dustin Dought reflects on the pope’s eight-year pontificate and its effect on their lives as young Catholics in interviews at Theological College of The Catholic University of America in Washington.
Amid pre-conclave meetings, cardinals gather for prayer
Seated under Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s statue “Chair of St. Peter,” which celebrates the teaching authority of the pope, more than 100 cardinals gathered March 6 to pray as they prepared to elect a successor to Pope Benedict XVI.
