Pope Francis, what happens from here to the Conclave

It is customary that, for Nine consecutive days after the Pope’s funeralparticular celebrations of the Eucharist in suffrage of the Roman deceased pontiff take place, starting from the funeral mass. These are the novedials that provide, every day, the participation of a different group, taking into account its ties with the Roman Pontiff. The rite remains for Pope Francis and joins the congregations.

The calendar of the novedials

The second general congregation has established that the celebrations of Novedial will take place as follows:

Day 2: Sunday 27 April, 10.30 am, on the churchyard of the Vatican Basilica: the employees and faithful of the Vatican city. The concelebration will be chaired by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, former secretary of state.

Day 3: Monday 28 April, 5.00 pm, in the Vatican Basilica: the Church of Rome. The concelebration will be chaired by Cardinal Baldassare Reina, the Pope’s vicar general for the diocese of Rome.

Day 4: Tuesday 29 April, 5.00 pm, in the Vatican Basilica: the chapters of the papal basilicas. The concelebration will be chaired by Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of the papal basilica of San Pietro in the Vatican.

5th day: Wednesday 30 April, 5.00 pm, in the Vatican Basilica: the papal chapel, reserved for cardinals alone. The concelebration will be chaired by Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, deputy dean of the Cardinal College.

6th day: Thursday 1 May, 5.00 pm, in the Vatican Basilica: the Roman Curia. The concelebration will be chaired by Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, Camerlengo of Santa Romana Chiesa.

Day 7: Friday 2 May, 5.00 pm, in the Vatican Basilica: the Oriental Churches. The concelebration will be chaired by Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, former prefect of the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches.

Day 8: Saturday 3 May, 5.00 pm, in the Vatican Basilica: members of the institutes of consecrated life and the apostolic life companies. The concelebration will be chaired by Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, former pro-prefect of the Dicastery for the institutes of consecrated life and the apostolic life companies.

9th day: Sunday 4 May, 5.00 pm, in the Vatican Basilica: the papal chapel, reserved for cardinals alone. The concelebration will be chaired by Cardinal Dominique Mamberti, a protodiacono of the Cardinal College.

All faithful can take part in these celebrations.

Congregations

General congregations take place in the days between the Pope’s death and the conclave. They have already begun and continue starting from Monday 27. They take place in the New Hall of the Synod. All cardinals also participate in the non -voters. To lead the congregations is the dean of the Cardinal College, Giovanni Battista Re, 91 years old, who also celebrated the Pope’s funeral. In the first meetings, the times and ways of the celebrations for Bergoglio were established. Starting from Monday, with the arrival of all the cardinals, the discussion will open on the future of the Church which is prodrome at the Conclave. The next General Cardinal Congregation is scheduled for Monday morning, April 28, starting at 9 am. In this meeting, the start date of the Conclave which should be between 5 and 6 May, no earlier than 15 days and no more than 20 from the start of the vacant office should also be defined.

The conclave

Before the beginning of the conclave, the mass is celebrated in the Basilica of San Pietro Pro Eligando Romano Pontifice. All the Cardinal Vlectors participate and formally start the rites of the Conclave.

The cardinals then proceed in procession from the Paolina chapel to the Sistine Chapel. Each cardinal wears the red guise, the spool that is the aforementioned white, the mozzettathat is, the short cape that covers the shoulders, and the capcubic hat with three rigid fins and bow on the upper part.

In the Sistine chapel, controlled and reclaimed in the previous days, all voting operations related to the conclave are carried out. The benches are mounted to host the Cardinal Vlectors and the stove to burn the sheets after each vote.

The cardinal dean pronounces the oath in Latin and then Cardinals swear on the Gospels: They must faithfully carry out the assignment in the interest of the Church and maintain the secret on what happens in the Sistine.

The master of the liturgical celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff, After the oath, he pronounces the sentence Extra Omnesall out. Only the Cardinal Vlectors remain, those with an age equal to or over 80 years cannot vote. The new Pope must obtain two thirds of the votes of those present. Two votes are made a day. Three cards are given to each cardinal, three tellers, three auditors and three in charge of collecting the votes of the sick cardinals are chosen. Each card has the writing Eligo in Summum Pontificem: Here you write the name of your candidate. When everyone has inserted the sheet into the urn by placing it on a plate, the tellers count the cards and, if the number is correct, read the names. If there is no element, another vote is immediately made. All voting documents are burned in the stove.

• Here all the details to be known on the Conclave