Vatican
City, 11 February 2013
(VIS) – The conclave to elect the successor of Benedict XVI will be
regulated by the "Ordo Rituum Conclavis" established by
John Paul II's apostolic constitution "Universi Dominici
Gregis", para. 27. The Cardinal Camerlengo, who has a
fundamental role during the Sede Vacante period, is Cardinal Tarcisio
Bertone, appointed by Benedict XVI on 4 April 2007.
The
Cardinal electors, by their continents of provenance, will be 61
Europeans, 19 Latin Americans, 14 North Americans, 11 Africans, 11
Asians, and 1 from Oceania. These figures may vary depending on the
date that the conclave opens: for example, Cardinal Walter Kasper
will turn 80 on 5 March. The country with the greatest number of
Cardinal electors is Italy, with 21. Sixty-seven of the electors were
created by Benedict XVI and the remaining 50 by John Paul II.
One
of John Paul II's innovations regarding the period of conclave is
that the Cardinal electors―of whom
there will be 117 on 28 February―will be housed in the Vatican
residence Casa Santa Marta, which is independent from the place where
they vote, the Sistine Chapel.
The
Cardinal electors must remain in the Vatican during the entire period
of conclave, and no one can approach them when they move from the
Sistine Chapel to their place of residence or vice versa. All forms
of communication with the outside world are prohibited. As in the
past, the Sistine Chapel stove will be used to burn the ballots after
each vote.
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