‘Cardinals had a few last hours to confer with aides or pray with faithful before required check-in at a top-security hotel in Vatican City on Sunday, a day before they will be sequestered in secret sessions in the Sistine Chapel to elect the next pope.

Many Vatican observers expect the conclave to choose Pope John Paul II’s successor to likely last two or three days after the ritual-filled voting process begins either Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning.

“The new pope has already been chosen by the Lord. We just have to pray to understand who he is,” Florence Cardinal Ennio Antonelli told the congregation in St. Andrea delle Fratte, his titular church a short stroll from Rome’s Spanish Steps.’

Read more at Cardinals Check in Before Conclave

Recent Entries

• Papal center’s spiral costly
• Pope to visit Britain next year
• John Paul’s sainthood centers on young nun
• Priest probes possible miracle in John Paul II saint case
• Pope Benedict chooses 15 new cardinals, and two are from U.S.
• Pope to name new Cardinals soon
• Pope urges caution on new converts to French Catholic group
• Ex-Vatican priest returns to Canada to face child sex charges
• Vatican Calls Turkey Trip a Critical Test
• First Lady Discusses Terrorism With Pope

This entry was posted on Monday, April 18th, 2005 at 12:05 am and is filed under Conclave. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.