Conclave to elect pope next week
The Vatican has said the conclave to elect a new pope is likely to start in the first few days of next week, signalling that cardinals are coming to an end of discussions about the state of the church and who might lead it.
Cardinals will vote this afternoon on the opening date of the conclave, a vote made possible by the arrival yesterday of the last of the 115 cardinal electors, Vietnamese Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man.
Vatican spokesman the Rev Federico Lombardi said it was “likely” the cardinals would choose Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday as the start date for the conclave. In the past 100 years, no conclave has lasted longer than five days.
There is no front-runner in this election, and the past week of deliberations has exposed sharp divisions among cardinals about some of the pressing problems facing the church, including governance within the Holy See itself.
Early in the week, the Americans were pressing for more time to get to the bottom of the level of dysfunction and corruption exposed by the leaks of papal documents last year. But by yesterday, Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles tweeted that the discussions were “reaching a conclusion” and that a mood of “excitement” was taking hold.
Vatican-based cardinals had been angling for a speedy end to the discussions, perhaps to limit the amount of dirty laundry being aired.
Aside from the conclave start date, the Rev Lombardi said a few items of business remain outstanding, including drawing lots for rooms at the Vatican’s Santa Marta hotel.
