Telegram to Benedict XVI

The Holy See has published the text of the Telegram sent by the Cardinals to His Holiness Benedict XVI, emeritus Pontiff.  The text is below:

TO HIS HOLINESS
POPE EMERITUS BENEDICT XVI
CASTEL GANDOLFO 

THE CARDINAL FATHERS, GATHERED AT THE VATICAN FOR THE GENERAL CONGREGATIONS IN VIEW OF THE NEXT CONCLAVE, SEND YOU THEIR DEVOTED GREETINGS AND EXPRESS THEIR RENEWED GRATITUDE FOR ALL YOUR BRILLIANT PETRINE MINISTRY AND FOR YOUR EXAMPLE OF GENEROUS PASTORAL CARE FOR THE GOOD OF THE CHURCH AND OF THE WORLD. WITH THEIR GRATITUDE THEY HOPE TO REPRESENT THE RECOGNITION OF THE ENTIRE CHURCH FOR YOUR TIRELESS WORK IN THE VINEYARD OF THE LORD. IN CONCLUSION, THE MEMBERS OF THE COLLEGE OF CARDINALS TRUST IN YOUR PRAYERS FOR THEM, AS WELL AS FOR THE WHOLE CHURCH.  

+ CARDINAL ANGELO SODANO
DEAN OF THE COLLEGE OF CARDINALS

EWTN Appearance - on the Internet

EWTN has now posted my appearance on Rome Dispatch with Joan Lewis to the Internet.  You can see it on EWTN's YouTube channel, or here:

Ticket to the Papal Audience

I meant to post this before.  Above is an image of the tickets to get you into the final General Audience on Wednesday, Feb. 27.  This was, of course, the Pope's last public audience in Rome before his resignation came into effect.

In the News

The other day I did a short interview with Edward Pentin, a reporter for The National Catholic Register, among others.  He published the story the other day.  He probably makes me sound more an expert than I really am, but I appreciate the coverage.  You can see the article here, my contribution is towards the end:

Benedict’s New Name: Pope Emeritus, His Holiness Benedict XVI, Roman Pontiff Emeritus

Vacancy Signs

Like most churches, here at the ancient Papal Basilica of San Clemente in Rome, we keep a prominent portrait of the Roman Pontiff.  Right around 8:00pm, when there See of Peter was vacated, we took down the portrait.  We are a sacramental Church, we live and breath signs and symbols. The vacancy of the office of Pope is reflected in various ways, large and small.  The empty space on the wall is a visible reminder in the church of the empty chair in the Church:

Benedict XVI's Last Audience

Tomorrow is Pope Benedict XVI's last audience.  I hope to be there and will tweet from there.  You may follow me at @PiusOP.  Now, in the U.S., at major events the cellphone companies set-up portable cell towers to handle the excess demand.  I don't think they do that in Italy.  So, that means I probably won't get much of a cellphone signal there, and the tweets will come only after people have dispersed.  I plan to post pictures and things when I get home later in the day tomorrow.

Normas Nonnullas: Changes to the Papal Conclave

On Monday, His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, issued motu proprio an Apostolic Letter amending the guidelines for a Papal Conclave and Election.  As is custom, the name of the document is formed from the first few words of the text in Latin, in this case Normas nonnullas.  It amends the original norms issued by Bl. Pope John Paul II in 1996, Universi dominici gregis.  It also includes earlier changes that Pope Benedict XVI himself made in the Apostolic Letter issued motu proprio, Constitutione apostolica.  I have done a comparison of the changed paragraphs of Universi dominici gregis with Normas nonnullas.  Below is a brief descriptions of all of the changes in the election process, referencing the appropriate paragraph of Universi dominici gregis:

•           № 35: A technical change to include a reference to para. 75, regarding the timing of the beginning of an election. 
•           № 37: The phrasing of the timing was altered.  It now says that from the moment the Apostolic See is vacant, there should be a waiting period of 15 full days before the start of the Conclave.  It is left to the Cardinals to alter this in two ways.  First, if all of the Cardinal electors are present, they may begin earlier.  Second, for a very grave reason, they may delay it a few days.  The requirement that the Conclave begin no later than 20 following the vacancy remains.
•           № 43: In managing the areas closed to the public, the Cardinal Camerlengo is now assisted by the Vice Camerlengo, as well as the Substitute of the Secretariat of State.  It also allows for the Cleric Prelates of the Apostolic Camera to assist in the efforts to ensure that the Cardinal electors are not approached along the route from their residence to the Vatican Palace.
•           № 46: Allows for eight (rather than 2) Masters of Ceremonies to be made available to assist at the Domus Sanctae Marthae.
•           № 47:  Binds to the obligation of secrecy the technicians who sweep for sound recording equipment according to para. 55.
•           № 48: Adds to those taking the oath of secrecy the technicians who sweep for sound recording equipment according to para. 55.  It also changes the wording of the oath of secrecy.  Most importantly, it recognizes that a penalty of excommunication latae sententiae is imposed on anyone who violates the oath.  That means, that the penalty is automatically imposed by the law.  It reserves to the Apostolic See alone the power to lift this excommunication.
•           № 49: Cleans up the wording of this paragraph to conform the timing of the beginning of the Conclave to what was set out in para. 37. 
•           № 50:  The following also participate in the procession from the Pauline Chapel to the Apostolic Palace when the election begins:  the Vice Cemerlengo, the Auditor General of the Apostolic Camera, and two members each of the Colleges of the Apostolic Prenotaries from the number of participants,  of the Auditor Prelates of the Roman Rota, and of the Cleric Prelates of the Apostolic Camera. 
•           № 51:  Allows the Vice Camerlengo to assist in preparing the Sistine Chapel for the election.
•           № 55:  Those who attempt to violate the secrecy of the Conclave by recording equipment are subject to excommunication latae sententiae (rather than just a “grave penalty”).
•           № 62: Clarifies that the 2/3 vote required is taken from those present and voting (and not simply from those present).  Interestingly, it also seems to delete the language that says if the number of electors cannot be divided into three equal parts, you need a 2/3 vote +1.  That is to say, if there are, for example, 119 electors, a 2/3 vote would be 79 1/3.  You obviously can’t have a third of a vote, so you would need 80 votes.  Canon law already seems to assume this, so this deletion does not seem to change anything.
•           № 64: It adds a reference that the Secretary of the College of Cardinals and the Master of Papal Liturgical Celebrations are recalled to the election hall during the “pre-scrutiny” phase.
•           № 70: Makes a technical clean-up change saying that at least 2/3 are necessary for election.  This clean-up probably explains the deletion of the language in para. 62.
•           № 75:  This paragraph is significantly changed to conform to Pope Benedict’s earlier change to the voting procedures.  In effect, it now requires that of a Pope has not been elected after three days, they take a day for prayer, reflection and dialogue.  After that, the only two who may be elected (who have “passive voice”, to use the canonical term) are the two who received the highest number of votes in the last vote.  The person to be elected still needs at least a 2/3 vote to be validly elected, rather than the simple majority that Bl. Pope John Paul II has established.  The two who have “passive voice” (i.e., can be elected) do not have “active voice” (i.e., they may not vote, and their number does not count in determining the 2/3 majority).   
•           № 87:  Adds the two Masters of Ceremonies to those who are summoned into the election hall after the valid election of a Pope.

The Conclave: Setting the Date - UPDATED

UPDATE 2/26/13 - Renowned U.S. Canonist E. Peters offers some great commentary on the changes in Normas Nonnullas. As I did, he raises the question of how they can start early without all of the elector present. (For that reason I would suggest he amend his blog title from "Problem Solved" to "Problems Created"!)  He offers the following solution:

Well, I suggest that authorizing an earlier conclave under certain express conditions authorizes resort to reasonable means to determine whether those conditions have been met. Now Darmaatmadja and O’Brien have declared their intention not to enter the conclave. There is no reason not to think that those are free choices. So the opening date can be set without further notice of them

I think it is easier than that.  The law itself allows cardinals to be excused from voting.  They may be excused for illness, and Darmaatmadja is clearly covered by this.  By that alone, I think he would not count in determining whether they could permit early voting.  As I mention, the law also allows a cardinal to be absent for another grave reason.  But this can only be determined by the Cardinals.  The solution, it seems to me, for the case of O'Brien, would be for him to submit his intention not attend, citing his reason.  The other Cardinals could then vote to approve this as a sufficiently grave reason--if they truly believe that it is--and he would be excluded.  With that, and all other Cardinals present and accounted for, I believe they could begin.  Absent this, I do not believe the may begin early.

---

Original Post:

The Pope issued today a new motu proprio (Normas Nonnullas) amending the Apostolic Constitution which governs Papal Conclaves.  A number of changes were made, many of them small or technical.  One of the most expected changes was the decision regarding when the Conclave could begin.  The document is currently not available in English, only Latin and Italian.  From the Italian version:

lascio peraltro al Collegio dei Cardinali la facoltà di anticipare l’inizio del Conclave se consta della presenza di tutti i Cardinali elettori

Essentially, that means that it is left to the Cardinals the faculty to begin the Conclave early, so long as all of them are present.  This is a key point.

For in addition to this, the document requires all cardinals to respond to the convoking of the Conclave. Only those who are unable to attend by reason of illness or other grave impediment are excused. Moreover, it is up to the Cardinals as a body to decide what that means.

To take a real example, Cardinal O’Brian of Scotland has declared his intention not to attend the Conclave. I presume he means that he suffers from some impediment preventing his attendance. But what if the Cardinal-Electors decide that is not a sufficiently grave reason? Then they have to wait for him to attend before they can set an earlier vote. In other words, before they can vote to begin the voting early, they first have to determine that all the Cardinal electors are present, except those legitimately impeded. A Cardinal can always refuse to attend, but unless excused the Cardinals may not vote before the lapse of the 15 days.

So, the question is, when will the Conclave start?  The answer now is, we don't know.  We will have to wait for the Cardinals to gather on March 1 and tell us.

[I am happy to see, as I hoped, that in issuing the new motu proprio, the Pope also waived the vacatio legis and declared it would be promulgated in L'Osservatore Romano.]

The Pope's Final Angelus

Here are some pictures from the final Angelus prayers of our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI.  The Pope celebrates the Angelus every Sunday at noon from the window of his Papal apartments overlooking the Piazza of St. Peter's Basilica.  The text of the Pope's reflections before the Angelus may be found at the Vatican website.  There, you can also watch a video of the Pope's reflection and prayers.

Homily of Pope Benedict XVI - Midnight Mass - Christmas 2012

Below is the homily of Pope Benedict XVI from Christmas 'Midnight' Mass (which he actually celebrates at 10pm).  You can also see the Mass on video.

Midnight Mass - Christmas 2012:

Dear Brothers and Sisters!
Again and again the beauty of this Gospel touches our hearts: a beauty that is the splendour of truth. Again and again it astonishes us that God makes himself a child so that we may love him, so that we may dare to love him, and as a child trustingly lets himself be taken into our arms. It is as if God were saying: I know that my glory frightens you, and that you are trying to assert yourself in the face of my grandeur. So now I am coming to you as a child, so that you can accept me and love me.