VATICAN CITY
The New York Times
By DANIEL J. WAKIN and ALAN COWELL
Published: March 8, 2013
ROME — For a fifth straight day, Roman Catholics awaited word from the Vatican on Friday on whether the so-called princes of their church have agreed a date to begin the formal voting to select a successor to Pope Benedict XVI who retired abruptly last month, citing old age and advancing infirmity.
Since Monday, 115 cardinals under age 80 — those who are eligible to participate in the papal balloting — have converged on Rome to prepare for the moment when they enter the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel to begin the processes of voting known as a conclave, a word derived from Latin denoting a lockable room and reflecting the closed and secretive nature of the ballot.
Despite expectations among Vatican watchers that the cardinals would set the date earlier in the week, the prelates have proceeded cautiously and with deliberation, joining with older cardinals to debate a wide range of issues about the papacy and the challenges facing the church without resolving the question of a date.
The cardinals have been meeting behind closed doors in the Vatican’s Paul VI hall every day this week, their utterances regarded as potential auditions for those among them regarded as “papabile,” or candidates for pope.
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