No Date Decided for Conclave to Elect New Pope

The Vatican on Wednesday said no date had been set for a conclave to elect a new pope and that all the 115 "cardinal electors" expected to take part in the vote will only be in Rome on Thursday.

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3 months ago

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Arts & Society, World

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Religion & Spirituality, Europe

People

Benedict Xvi, Federico Lombardi

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Vatican City

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SHOTLIST: VATICAN CITY, MARCH 6, 2013. SOURCE: AFPTV SOUNDBITE 1 Frederico Lombardi (man), Vatican spokesman (Italian, 29 sec): "You can feel this will among the cardinals to prepare serenely, efficiently, thoroughly and without precipitation. In light of this situation, it still hasn't seemed necessary to decide to vote for the date of the conclave." -VAR press conference -VAR preparation of Sistine Chapel for the conclave (filmed on screen during the press conference) ------------------------------- AFP TEXT STORY: Vatican-religion-pope-conclave No date decided for conclave to elect new pope VATICAN CITY, March 6, 2013 (AFP) - The Vatican on Wednesday said no date had been set for a conclave to elect a new pope and that all the 115 "cardinal electors" expected to take part in the vote will only be in Rome on Thursday. "The date of the vote has not been decided," Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told reporters. Lombardi also said Vietnamese cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man would be the last of the cardinal electors -- cardinals below the threshold age of 80 -- to arrive in Rome on Thursday. "By tomorrow, all the cardinal electors should be in Rome," Lombardi said. The conclave is due to be held in the first half of March following Benedict XVI's historic resignation. dt/vjf