Cardinals to hold two General Congregations on March 4

March 01, 2013 - The world’s cardinal are holding two preparatory meetings in the Vatican on Monday to discuss the issues and challenges of the Catholic Church, before deciding upon a date for the start of the conclave to elect a new Pope. The first General Congregation of the world’s cardinals under the “Sede Vacante” or the “Empty See” after Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation on Thursday, will take place Monday morning and will be followed by a second one in the evening, the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Angelo Sodano said in a communique on Friday. According to "Universi Dominici Gregis”, the 1996 Apostolic Constitution that defines the procedure of the election of a new Pope, all cardinals, both electors and non-electors, are expected to attend the General Congregations, but exceptions are made for the very elderly Cardinals should they prefer to absent themselves from even these initial stages of the process. A series of General Congregations are held to help the cardinal update on current Church issues, which help in the conclave. Currently the College of Cardinals stands at 207, of whom 117 are below 80 years of age and hence are eligible to vote for a new Pope. Out of the 117 cardinal electors, two have declared they will not participate in the conclave to elect Pope Benedict XVI’s successor.