9^th General congregations on Saturday -update

March 9, 2013: The Cardinals gathered in the Vatican during the “Sede Vacante” or Empty See, held their 9^th General Congregation Saturday morning, in preparation for the conclave to elect a new Pope.

At a press briefing on Saturday afternoon, the Director of the Press Office of the Holy See, Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi said in answer to a question as to whether there is a projected duration of the Conclave, that the general spirit among the participants in the General Congregations, and their readiness to enter into Conclave, tend to suggest that the Conclave itself will not last more than a few days, at most. “It is not my place to tell the Cardinals what to do,” he said, adding, “a lengthy duration of the Conclave would evidently be a sign of an impasse," i.e. that consensus had not been reached.

During the press conference, Fr. Federico Lombardi, SJ, also revealed a tentative timetable for the ceremonies and proceedings on the first days of the upcoming Conclave. Accordingly on Tuesday, March 12th, afternoon about 3.45 local time Cardinals will be transfered from Domus Sanctae Marthae to Pauline Chapel, at about 4.30, they will go in a Procession from Pauline Chapel to Sistine Chapel, where the Oath of secrecy will be administered. It will be followed by meditation by Card. Prosper Grech, OP and eventual 1st vote. At about 7.30 pm the Cardinals return to Domus Sanctae Marthae.
Among the details that emerged during the press briefing was confirmation of the dissolution – the rendering useless – of the Fisherman’s Ring and other official seals of Benedict XVI’s pontificate. Fr. Lombardi’s English-language consultant, Fr. Thomas Rosica, CSB, elaborated. “Fr. [Lombardi, SJ] saw with his very own eyes this (Saturday) morning, five objects that were ruined – scratched [and] rendered useless, because the image was destroyed,” he said. Fr. Rosica went on to say, “First of all, there’s the ring – the Fisherman’s Ring that was destroyed – the image was scratched – secondly, there was [also destroyed] a stamp of the Fisherman’s Ring, a seal, which was used to seal official documents.” There were, in addition, “[T]wo stamps that were used for official Papal documents with the image on it, were scratched, so they cannot be used, and finally, the master lead seal, which was used for major documents, and [for] creating other seals: that was scratched, as well.”