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Skriven 2005-04-10 11:59:27 av Marc Lewis (1:396/45.0)
Ärende: Vatican Information Service - Special Editions
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Hello All.
          Vatican Information Service
             HOLY SEE PRESS OFFICE
             V.I.S.    VIS internet

      05.IV.2005
      Fifteenth Year  - N.64

      SUMMARY:

      - THIRD CONGREGATION OF CARDINALS, INFORMATION ON VACANT SEE
    ___________________________________________________________

++   THIRD CONGREGATION OF CARDINALS, INFORMATION ON VACANT SEE

      VATICAN CITY, APR 5, 2005 (VIS) - In the Holy See Press Office
today, Archbishop Piero Marini, master of the Liturgical
Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff, and Holy See Press Office
Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls, held a press conference to provide
some information on today's meeting of cardinals and on the period
of the vacant see.

   Navarro-Valls explained that "the third general congregation
held today was attended by 88 of the 91 cardinals present in Rome,"
and that those who participated considered themes "concerning the
Pope's funeral and the upcoming conclave, the date of which has yet
to be established."

   Later, replying to journalists' questions, he specified that
"the name of the cardinal 'in pectore' had not been made public. We
must wait and see if it is given in the will, which has not yet been
read."

   The director of the Holy See Press Office confirmed that
John Paul II would be buried in the earth, as he himself wanted, and
that the burial site would be the same as that in which Blessed John
XXIII had previously been interred."

   According to tradition, the body of the Pope is placed in a
triple casket: one of cypress wood, the second of zinc and the outer
one of fir wood. Another ritual involves covering the Pontiff's face
with a silken veil, prior to closing the first casket of cypress
wood. Various bronze and silver medals from the pontificate are also
placed in the coffin, as is a parchment summarizing the life of the
Pope which is sealed in a lead tube.

   Answering another question, Navarro-Valls emphasized that
"John Paul's body has not been embalmed."

   Archbishop Marini suggested that journalists refer to the
two volumes mentioned in no. 27 of Pope John Paul's 1996 Apostolic
Constitution "Universi Dominici gregis" for a better understanding
of the specific rites for the death and burial of a pope and the
conclave to elect a new one, specifically "Ordo Exsequiarum Romani
Pontificis" and "Ordo Rituum Conclavis." He explained several of
those rites in great detail, adding that three persons in particular
have prominent roles during the period of "sede vacante" or vacant
See: the camerlengo, the dean of the College of Cardinals, and the
master of papal liturgical ceremonies.

   He noted that there were three "statio" or places of
gathering where specific rites would be performed for the deceased
pontiff: the "house" of the deceased, in this case the Clementine
Hall where the Pope laid in state for nearly a day for visits by
members of the Roman Curia, the Vatican Basilica where the faithful
will have the chance to pay their respects for three days, and the
Holy Father's final resting place in the grotto area of St. Peter's
Basilica.

   He also underscored one of the innovations made by John Paul
regarding the period of the conclave, namely, that the cardinal
electors - who now number 117 -  be lodged in the Domus Sancta
Marthae residence in the Vatican, separately from where they will
vote in the Sistine Chapel. They will have at their disposal for
liturgies the chapel of the residence and other chapels in the
Vatican. Thus, he said, Vatican City, not just the Sistine Chapel,
is considered the site of the next conclave.

   Cardinal electors must stay in the Vatican the entire time
of the conclave, no one may approach them as they transfer between
the Sistine Chapel and the residence and all forms of communication
with the outside world are banned.

   He said that, as has been done in the past, the stove in the
Sistine Chapel will be used to burn the ballots each time they are
cast. The public will know the result of the balloting via the smoke
coming out of the Sistine Chapel chimney: black for no electi
on,
white for election . OP/RITES:CONCLAVE/MARINI:NAVARRO-VALLS  VIS
050405 (650)


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