The Vatican Information Service (VIS) is reporting that to date, there are 113 Cardinal electors present in Rome. The last two remaining electors, Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz, archbishop of Warsaw, Poland, will arrive this afternoon and Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man, archbishop of Thanh-Pho Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam will arrive tomorrow morning.
In the meantime, Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi said the Cardinals have been hard at work in their daily meetings, addressing several major topics.
“The major theme was the Church in the world, the New Evangelization. Other topics included the Holy See, its Dicasteries and relations with bishops. A third theme was a profile of expectations for the next pope in view of the good government of the Church," Father Lombardi said.
Regarding the date of the opening of the Conclave, Fr. Lombardi said that the College of Cardinals "has a great spirit of preparation that is serious, profound, and unhurried. Perhaps that is why it still did not seem opportune to take a vote on the date of the Conclave, which a large part of the College could sense as something forced in the dynamic of reflection. It also needs to be kept in mind that some cardinals are still arriving and it would be a sign of respect for them to wait until the College is complete.”
In conclusion, the director of the Holy See Press Office confirmed that “the Fisherman's Ring has been scratched over,” that is, rendered unusable.
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