Benedict XVI addresses the Curia in the Clementine Hall at the Vatican (Photo: CNS).
This Illustration can be found on the Catholic Herald web-site
The following Article can be found on the Blog "In Caelo et in Terra", to be found at
The Apostolic Penitentiary, concerned with questions of conscience from the Faithful and the pressing matters related to it, will continue to function during the Sede Vacante. Cardinal Manuel Monteiro de Castro, who leads the Office, will remain in Office.
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone,
(Camerlengo),
will head the management of the goods
and finances of the Holy See.
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone (pictured) will remain on as Camerlengo. He will head the management of the goods and finances of the Holy See. He will also be the Chairman of the daily meetings of the College of Cardinals for the daily affairs of the Church.
Upon the election of the new Pope, he will accompany him to the Papal Apartments and hand him the keys.
Cardinal Bertone will also declare the result of every ballot during the Conclave. Upon his invitation, the Cardinals will meet for discussion and reflection when needed. The Vice-Chamberlain, Archbishop Pier Luigi Celata, will work with him outside the Conclave.
The Cleric Prelates of the Apostolic Chamber will assist the Camerlengo. They are Msgr. Assunto Scotti, Msgr. Luigi Cerchiaro, Msgr. Paolo Luca Braida (Italians all), Msgr. Philip James Whitmore (British), Msgr. Winfried König (German), Msgr. Osvaldo Neves de Almeida (Argentinian) and Msgr. Krzysztof Józef Nykiel (Polish).
Cardinal Agostino Vallini,
(Arch-Priest of the Papal Basilica of Saint John Lateran),
will take over the Pope's Liturgical duties, together with
the other Arch-Priests of the Papal Basilicas.
During the Sede Vacante, the Arch-Priests of the Papal Basilicas will take over the Pope’s Liturgical duties. They are Cardinal Agostino Vallini (pictured) for St. John Lateran, Cardinal Angelo Comastri for St. Peter’s, Cardinal James Harvey for St. Paul-Outside-the-Walls and Cardinal Santos Abril y Castelló for St. Mary Major.
Also involved in the Papal Liturgies during the Sede Vacante are the Master of Ceremonies, Msgr. Guido Marini, and the Almoner of His Holiness, Archbishop Guido Pozzo.
Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran,
(College of Cardinals’ Proto-Deacon),
the most senior Cardinal-Deacon,
will have the honour to announce “Habemus Papam”
to the crowds outside on St. Peter’s Square.
The pastoral care of the Diocese of Rome will be the responsibility of the Vicars-General: Cardinal Agostino Vallini, for Rome, and Cardinal Angelo Comastri, for the Vatican City State.
After the Cardinals have entered the Sistine Chapel for the Conclave, and after they have all taken the Oath, Msgr. Guido Marini will call “Extra omnes!”. He will distribute the ballot papers to the Cardinals and then leave the Chapel.
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, in place of the Cardinal-Dean (Cardinal Sodano is 85 and, therefore, too old to take part in the Conclave), will announce the start of the first ballot after any remaining questions have been answered. Cardinal Re will also ask the newly-elected Pope if he accepts his election. If Cardinal Re himself is elected, that task falls to Cardinal Bertone.
Cardinal James Harvey,
(Junior Cardinal-Deacon),
will lock the doors of the Sistine Chapel
before the first ballot.
Cardinal James Harvey (pictured), as the Junior Cardinal-Deacon, will lock the doors of the Sistine Chapel before the first ballot. He will be responsible for who enters and leaves during the voting.
Assistants to those Cardinals, who may be too ill to be in the Sistine Chapel, can leave and return to collect those Cardinals’ ballots.
Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, as the College of Cardinals’ Proto-Deacon (the most senior Cardinal-Deacon), will have the honour to announce the“Habemus Papam” to the crowds outside on St. Peter’s Square.
The Curia of the Church will, in many ways, cease to function once the Pope has abdicated. Only some pressing matters may be handled by the College of Cardinals, but she is not allowed to do anything that is normally under a Pope’s authority.
The Curia of the Church will, in many ways, cease to function once the Pope has abdicated. Only some pressing matters may be handled by the College of Cardinals, but she is not allowed to do anything that is normally under a Pope’s authority.
