VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service
Vatican City, 7 March 2013 (VIS) – In the course of the daily press briefing held by the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., the news reported by a press agency that some of the Masters of Ceremony had reserved St. Peter’s Basilica this coming Monday to celebrate a “pro eligendo Summo Pontefice” Mass, thus giving an indication that the Conclave date had been set, was summarily dismissed.
“I spoke with the Master of Ceremonies Marini [Msgr. Guido Marini, master of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff] personally,” Fr. Lombardi said, “and that is definitely not the case. Moreover, reserving St. Peter’s Basilica is not the task of the Master of Ceremonies but of the College of Cardinals. That news, therefore, is completely false. Also, all priests can celebrate a “pro eligendo Summo Pontefice” Mass asking God to enlighten the pontifical College in these days so such a Mass would not indicate the beginning of the Conclave.”
There were 152 cardinals present at this morning’s fifth General Congregation, which was held from 9:30am until 21:30am. This includes two newly arrived cardinals who took the oath of secrecy: Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz, archbishop of Warsaw, Poland, who is a Cardinal elector and Cardinal Giovanni Coppa, apostolic nuncio emeritus to Czech Republic. The final Cardinal elector expected, Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man, archbishop of Thanh-Pho Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, is in the process of arriving.
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