VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter
by Joshua J. McElwee | Mar. 8, 2013
Rome —
The cardinals of the Roman Catholic church will begin voting for the new leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics Tuesday, the Vatican has announced.
The decision to set the date for the vote, widely anticipated after five days of secret deliberations, came amid a reportedly unsure atmosphere among the cardinals.
Going into the final meetings, there was reportedly a lack of clear consensus among the cardinals on who the leading candidates are for the next pontiff.
Friday’s decision to set the date of the secret vote for the next pope, known as the conclave, came at the cardinals’ eighth meeting since the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI Feb. 28. They have been meeting daily, sometimes twice daily, since Monday.
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