Tagle and Mamberti helping in organization

During their general congregation on Monday morning, the cardinals set Wednesday, May 7, as the date for the start of the conclave. On the morning of that day, Mass will be celebrated “for the election of the pontiff” (pro eligendo pontifice) in St. Peter's Basilica. The cardinals will then enter the Sistine Chapel in the afternoon. According to the constitution governing conclaves, they could cast their first vote on the first day. On the following days, they must vote four times a day: twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon.

According to Vatican law, the conclave could have begun on May 5. Bruni explained that the additional time is to prepare before the event. “There are various tasks to be carried out before the opening of the conclave, such as preparing the Sistine Chapel and organizing lodging for the cardinals,” he said.

Currently, the Casa Santa Marta, where the electors are to stay, has 126 rooms. However, there are 135 cardinals eligible to participate in the conclave. Just one won't attend due to health. The director of the Press Office suggested that additional accommodations could be provided in a nearby building, the former Hospice Santa Marta.

The date of May 7 also allows “all the cardinals to express themselves during the congregations,” he added. Since they are coming from all corners of the world, and most of them were appointed in recent years, they have had little opportunity to meet. “The cardinals don’t know each other well,” admitted 75-year-old Swedish Cardinal Anders Arborelius.

On Monday, more than 180 cardinals — out of a total of 252 — were present at the fifth general congregation, including more than 100 electors. About 20 of them spoke during the meeting, which lasted nearly three and a half hours.

No official list of participants in the conclave has yet been published. Croatian Cardinal Vinko Puljic, Archbishop Emeritus of Sarajevo, had initially announced that he would be absent for health reasons, before receiving the green light from his doctors. Spanish Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera, Archbishop Emeritus of Valencia, has cited health reasons for his absence. While some may arrive later for health reasons, Matteo Bruni said, the official number of voters remains 135 for now.

During the morning, the cardinals discussed the current challenges facing the Catholic Church and the “qualities that the new pope will need to respond to these challenges,” Matteo Bruni reported.

Among these challenges are evangelization, relations with other religions, and “the issue of abuse.”

In addition, the participants in the congregation addressed a sensitive issue that has been the subject of much discussion over the past week: the case of Cardinal Angelo Becciu, a 76-year-old Italian stripped of his rights as a cardinal elector in 2020.

When asked about the presence of Peruvian Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne, Archbishop Emeritus of Lima, who was sanctioned by the Vatican in 2019 on charges of sexual abuse of minors, Matteo Bruni declined to comment. The cardinals “are all invited to the general congregations,” he said. The 81-year-old cardinal was spotted in Rome, according to press reports.

According to the rules for this time, three new cardinals were appointed to assist Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Vatican's chief of staff, who is in charge of the Vatican's administration until the election of the new pontiff.

One of the three is automatically Cardinal Reinhard Marx, coordinator of the Council for the Economy. The other two, chosen by lot every three days, were Filipino Luis Tagle, former pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, and Frenchman Dominique Mamberti, who was president of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura until the pope's death.

The general congregations will now be held every morning at 9 a.m., except on May 1 (feast of St. Joseph the Worker and a Vatican holiday) and Sunday, May 4.

On, April 29, the congregation will begin with the first sermon for the cardinals, which will be given by the Benedictine abbot of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, Abbot Donato Ogliari.

A second sermon will take place on the day of the conclave — May 7 — and will be given by Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, Capuchin preacher emeritus of the Papal Household.

The Sistine Chapel, where the conclave will be held, has been closed to the public. Work to prepare the space is due to begin shortly. This includes the installation of platforms, tables, and chairs, as well as two stoves to produce the black or white smoke indicating the result of the votes. It also includes the installation of security measures. In the coming days, journalists will be able to visit the famous chapel.