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Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, has given some details on the plans for the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, and for the conclave that will choose his successor.
- Pope Benedict will hold a final meeting with members of the College of Cardinals in the morning on February 28. His resignation will take effect that evening.
- Upon the Pope’s official abdication, Vatican officials will begin the sequence of events that ordinarily follows a Pope’s death. The camerlengo will destroy the papal ring and the world’s cardinals will be summoned to the conclave.
- The conclave will begin sometime between 15 and 20 days after the Pope’s resignation. The exact date is among several procedural matters that will be settled by the cardinals when they first meet after the Pope’s abdication.
- Pope Benedict himself will play no role in the conclave. He will leave the Vatican immediately, to stay at the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo, until renovations are completely at the monastery on Vatican grounds where he intends to take up a more permanent residence. “The Pope will surely say absolutely nothing about the process of the election,” Father Lombardi said. He will also surely remain at Castel Gandolfo until after the conclusion of the conclave.
- The leaders of the Roman Curia will be expected to submit their resignations. Since they act as advisers to the Pontiff, they may be re-appointed or not, at the discretion of the new Pope.
- Bishop Giuseppe Sciacca has been named the general auditor of the Apostolic Camera, the official who will have temporary authority over the temporal affairs of the Holy See during the interregnum before the election of the new Pontiff.
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