Note
to readers of this blog: I
will continue to use this blog page to post news from the Vatican
Information Service until a new Pope is selected.
SUMMARY:
- FIRST
CONGREGATIONS OF CARDINALS THIS COMING MONDAY
-
BENEDICT XVI IS WELL: READING, LISTENING TO MUSIC, AND PRAYING
- MEMBERS
OF THE COLLEGE OF CARDINALS
- STAMPS
AND COINS OF THE SEDE VACANTE
- NOTICE
______________________________________
FIRST
CONGREGATIONS OF CARDINALS THIS COMING MONDAY
Vatican City, 1
March 2013 (VIS) - Today, the first day of the Sede Vacante, Cardinal
Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, has begun to summon
the cardinals to the first of the General Congregations, as provided
for by the Apostolic Constitution “Universi Dominici Gregis”.
This first General
Congregation will take place on Monday, 4 March, at 9:30am in the
Synod of Bishops Hall. A second General Congregation is also
scheduled for 5:00pm in the same place.
Following is the
text of the letter:
“As prescribed
in the Apostolic Constitution “Universi Dominici Gregis” of 22
February 1996 at No. 19, analogous to the case of the death of the
Supreme Pontiff, I have the duty to officially communicate to Your
Eminence the news of the vacancy of the Apostolic See from the
renunciation presented by Pope Benedict XVI effective from yesterday
evening, 28 February, at 8:00pm in Rome.”
“On
communicating this to you I fulfil my duty of summoning Your Eminence
to the first of the General Congregations of the College of
Cardinals, to be held on Monday, 4 March, at 9:30am in the Synod of
Bishops Room in the Paul VI Hall.”
“The General
Congregations will then continue normally until the complete number
of Cardinal electors is gathered and the College of Cardinals decides
the date for those Cardinal electors to enter into Conclave on the
basis of what the recent Motu Proprio of 22 February established
regarding modifications in the norms relating to the election of the
Roman Pontiff.”
“On my part, I
am pleased to take this opportunity to send you my fraternal
greetings.”
BENEDICT XVI IS
WELL: READING, LISTENING TO MUSIC, AND PRAYING
Vatican City, 1
March 2013 (VIS) – The director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr.
Federico Lombardi, S.J., related some information regarding the Sede
Vacante and the first hours of Benedict XVI after having left the
pontificate in a press conference this afternoon.
Fr. Lombardi spoke
this morning with Benedict XVI's personal secretary, Archbishop Georg
Ganswein, prefect of the Papal Household, who told him that,
yesterday, His Holiness, who was very calm and serene, had watched
several news programs and expressed his appreciation for the work of
the journalists as well as for the participation of those who had
assisted in his departure from the Vatican and his arrival at Castel
Gandolgo. After a brief walk through the Apostolic Palace he went to
bed and slept very well.
Today, as always,
His Holiness celebrated Mass at 7:00am and then prayed the Liturgy of
the Hours. In the afternoon he has another walk planned at 4:00pm,
through the gardens of the Castel Gandolfo Apostolic Palace, to pray
the rosary. Benedict XVI brought with him various books on theology,
history, and spirituality. At the moment he is reading from a book by
the Swiss theologian Hans Urs von Balthazar.
Yesterday at 8:00,
Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu, substitute of the Secretariat of
State sent a letter to all the diplomatic representatives to the Holy
See informing them that, during the period of the Sede Vacante, all
matters will be dealt with by the substitute and by the dean of the
College of Cardinals, Cardinal Angelo Sodano.
Moreover, this
morning, the papal apartments in St. John Lateran were sealed.
MEMBERS OF THE
COLLEGE OF CARDINALS
Vatican City, 1
March 2013 (VIS) – The College of Cardinals is currently comprised
of 207 cardinals: 117 Cardinal electors who can vote in the election
of the Pope and 90 cardinals who are over the age of 80. First in the
order of the hierarchy are Cardinal-bishops. Currently six in number,
these were originally the bishops of the "suburbicarian"
dioceses of Rome. Still today the Cardinal-bishops are assigned one
of these seven suburbicarian Sees, even though they are not bishops
of the diocese. Alongside the titular Cardinal-bishops of those Sees
in the hierarchy of the Church (with the exception of Ostia's titular
who, since 1150, has been the dean of the College of Cardinals), Pope
Paul VI added, in his motu proprio of 1965, “Ad Purpuratorum
Patrum”, the patriarchs of the Eastern Catholic Churches. The
patriarchs are not assigned any further title because the names of
each of their patriarchal Sees is already included in their title as
cardinal.
Second and most
numerous in the three orders of cardinals are the Cardinal-priests
who are assigned the “titulos” (title) of the important churches
of the Diocese of Rome.
Last in the order
of cardinals are the Cardinal-deacons who were originally the seven
deacons in the Papal Household and the seven deacons who supervised
the Church's works in the districts of Rome during the early Middle
Ages, when church administration was effectively the government of
Rome and provided for all of the city's social services.
Cardinal-deacons today are given title to one of these deaconries.
Following is the
complete list of the College of Cardinals according to their
respective order of precedence. Cardinal electors are marked with an
asterisk.
Cardinal-Bishops
SODANO Angelo
ETCHEGARAY Roger
*RE Giovanni
Battista
ARINZE Francis
*BERTONE Tarcisio
SARAIVA MARTINS
José
Cardinal-Bishop
Patriarchs
SFEIR Nasrallah
Pierre
DELLY Emmanuel III
*NAGUIB Antonios
*RAÏ Béchara
Boutros
Cardinal-Priests
ARNS Paulo
Evaristo
BAUM William
Wakefield
CÉ Marco
MACHARSKI
Franciszek
KITBUNCHU Michael
Michai
do NASCIMENTO
Alexandre
*DANNEELS Godfried
WILLIAMS Thomas
Stafford
*MEISNER Joachim
LOURDUSAMY D.
Simon
OBANDO BRAVO
Miguel
VIDAL Ricardo J.
GULBINOWICZ Henryk
Roman
TOMKO Jozef
POUPARD Paul
WETTER Friedrich
PIOVANELLI Silvano
SIMONIS Adrianus
Johannes
LAW Bernard
Francis
BIFFI Giacomo
MARTÍNEZ SOMALO
Eduardo
SILVESTRINI
Achille
FALCÃO José
Freire
SANTOS Alexandre
José Maria dos
CANESTRI Giovanni
PIMENTA Simon
Ignatius
CLANCY Edward Bede
SZOKA Edmund
Casimir
PASKAI László
TUMI Christian
Wiyghan
CASSIDY Edward
Idris
*LÓPEZ RODRÍGUEZ
Nicolas de Jesús
ANGELINI Fiorenzo
*MAHONY Roger
Michael
RUINI Camillo
KOREC Ján
Chryzostom
SCHWERY Henri
VLK Miloslav
FURNO Carlo
*DARMAATMADJA
Julius Riyadi
*ORTEGA Y ALAMINO
Jaime Lucas
AGUSTONI Gilberto
WAMALA Emmanuel
KEELER William
Henry
*TURCOTTE
Jean-Claude
CARLES GORDÓ
Ricardo María
MAIDA Adam Joseph
*PULJI? Vinko
*SANDOVAL ÍÑIGUEZ
Juan
TONINI Ersilio
MEDINA ESTÉVEZ
Jorge Arturo
CASTRILLÓN HOYOS
Darío
ANTONETTI Lorenzo
STAFFORD James
Francis
DE GIORGI
Salvatore
ARAÚJO Serafim
FERNANDES de
*ROUCO VARELA
Antonio María
*TETTAMANZI
Dionigi
*PENGO Polycarp
*SCHÖNBORN
Christoph
*RIVERA CARRERA
Norberto
*GEORGE Francis
Eugene
JAWORSKI Marian
PUJATS J?nis
CACCIAVILLAN
Agostino
SEBASTIANI Sergio
*GROCHOLEWSKI
Zenon
*SEPE Crescenzio
MEJÍA Jorge María
*KASPER Walter
*DIAS Ivan
*AGNELO Geraldo
Majella
RUBIANO SÁENZ
Pedro
MCCARRICK Theodore
Edgar
CONNELL Desmond
*BA?KIS Audrys
Juozas
*ERRÁZURRIZ OSSA
Francisco Javier
*TERRAZAS SANDOVAL
Julio
*NAPIER Wilfrid
Fox
*RODRÍGUEZ
MARADIAGA Óscar Andrés
AGRÉ Bernard
*CIPRIANI Thorne
Juan Luis
ÁLVAREZ MARTÍNEZ
Francisco
*HUMMES Cláudio
*BERGOGLIO Jorge
Mario
*POLICARPO José
da Cruz
*POLETTO Severino
MURPHY-O'CONNOR
Cormac
EGAN Edward
Michael
HUSAR Lubomyr
*LEHMANN Karl
TUCCI Roberto
*SCOLA Angelo
*OKOGIE Anthony
Olubunmi
PANAFIEU Bernard
*ZUBEIR Wako
Gabriel
*AMIGO VALLEJO
Carlos
*RIGALI Justin
Francis
*O'BRIEN Keith
Michael Patrick
SCHEID Eusébio
Oscar
*ANTONELLI Ennio
*TURKSON Peter
Kodwo Appiah
*TOPPO Telesphore
Placidus
*PELL George
*BOZANI? Josip
*PHAM MINH MÂN
Jean-Baptiste
*BARBARIN Philippe
*ERD? Péter
*OUELLET Marc
*VALLINI Agostino
*UROSA SAVINO
Jorge Liberato
ROSALES Gaudencio
B.
*RICARD
Jean-Pierre
*CAÑIZARES
LLOVERA Antonio
CHEONG Jinsuk
Nicholas
*O'MALLEY Sean
Patrick
*DZIWISZ Stanis?aw
*CAFFARRA Carlo
ZEN ZE-KIUN Joseph
*BRADY Seán
Baptist
*MARTÍNEZ SISTACH
Lluís
*VINGT-TROIS André
*BAGNASCO Angelo
*SARR
Théodore-Adrien
*GRACIAS Oswald
*ROBLES ORTEGA
Francisco
*DiNARDO Daniel N.
*SCHERER Odilo
Pedro
*NJUE John
KARLIC Estanislao
Esteban
MAZOMBWE Medardo
Joseph
*VELA CHIRIBOGA
Raúl Eduardo
*MONSENGWO PASINYA
Laurent
*ROMEO Paolo
*WUERL Donald
William
*ASSIS Raymundo
DAMASCENO
*NYCZ Kazimierz
*PATABENDIGE DON
Albert Malcolm Ranjith
*MARX Reinhard
ESTEPA LLAURENS
José Manuel
*ALENCHERRY George
*COLLINS Thomas
Christopher
*DUKA Dominik
*EIJK Willem
Jacobus
*BETORI Giuseppe
*DOLAN Timothy
Michael
*WOELKI Rainer
Maria
*TONG HON John
MURE?AN Lucian
*THOTTUNKAL
Baselios Cleemis
*ONAIYEKAN John
Olorunfemi
*SALAZAR GÓMEZ
Rubén
*TAGLE Luis
Antonio
Cardinal-Deacons
*TAURAN Jean-Louis
MARTINO Renato
Raffaele
MARCHISANO
Francesco
HERRANZ Julián
LOZANO BARRAGÁN
Javier
*NICORA Attilio
COTTIER Georges
Marie Martin
NAGY Stanis?aw
*LEVADA William
Joseph
*RODÉ Franc
CORDERO LANZA di
Montezemolo Andrea
VANHOYE Albert
*SANDRI Leonardo
*LAJOLO Giovanni
*CORDES Paul Josef
*COMASTRI Angelo
*RY?KO Stanis?aw
*FARINA Raffaele
COPPA Giovanni
*AMATO Angelo
*SARAH Robert
*MONTERISI
Francesco
*BURKE Raymond Leo
*KOCH Kurt
*SARDI Paolo
*PIACENZA Mauro
*DE PAOLIS Velasio
*RAVASI Gianfranco
SGRECCIA Elio
BRANDMÜLLER
Walter
BARTOLUCCI
Domenico
*FILONI Fernando
*MONTEIRO de
CASTRO Manuel
*ABRIL y CASTELLÓ
Santos
*VEGLIÒ Antonio
Maria
*BERTELLO Giuseppe
*COCCOPALMERIO
Francesco
*AVIZ João BRAZ
de
*O'BRIEN Edwin
Frederick
*CALCAGNO Domenico
*VERSALDI Giuseppe
GRECH Prosper
BECKER Karl
*HARVEY James
Michael
STAMPS AND
COINS OF THE SEDE VACANTE
Vatican City, 1
March 2013 (VIS) - The Philatelic and Numismatic Office of the
Governorate of Vatican City State has issued four stamps with the
image of an angel raising the pavilion (“umbraculum”) of the
Apostolic Camera, the work of Italian artist Daniela Longo. The
stamps cost: €0.70 for mail to Italy, with a light green
background; €0.85 for mail to Europe, with a blue background; €2.00
for mail to the Americas, with a grey background; and €2.50 for
mail to Oceania, on a yellow background.
The use of these
stamps as postage is only available during the Sede Vacante, ending
with the election of the new Pope. Their philatelic use is allowed
afterwards and the office will continue to sell them to collectors.
The initial printing is for 230,000 complete series. The folder
including all four stamps costs €15.00. There is also a smaller
folder that was created on Pope Benedict XVI's renunciation of the
pontificate, which includes two stamps and costs €10.00.
Regarding coins, a
€2.00 one commemorating the Sede Vacante will be issued. It is the
only one that will be circulated seeing that, according to the
European convention with the Vatican City State, only one coin is
allowed to be issued per year, with an extra one permitted in the
case of a Sede Vacante. There will, therefore, be two coins in 2013:
one for the Sede Vacante and the other, to be issued in April, with
an image of Benedict XVI.
The Sede Vacante
coin, 125,000 of which will be minted, bears the emblem of the
Cardinal camerlengo with the pavilion of the Apostolic Camera.
There will also be
10,000 silver €5.00 coins minted for the Sede Vacante that will
have a dove of the Holy Spirit and the words “Veni Sancte Spiritus”
on one side and the emblem of the Cardinal camerlengo with the
pavilion of the Apostolic Camera and the phrase “Sede Vacante 2013”
on the other. Likewise, 5,000 gold €10.00 coins will be minted.
This will be a very small coin (13.85mm in size and 3g in weight) and
will have the same images and writing as the silver coin.
The €5.00 and
€10.00 coins are collectibles and, theoretically, can only be used
within the Vatican. They are not legal tender outside of the Vatican.
NOTICE
Vatican City, 1
March 2013 (VIS) – Tomorrow, Saturday 2 March, there will be no VIS
transmission, as is normal for Saturdays, unless there is a relevant
event or notice to report.
You
can find more information at: www.visnews.org
The
news items contained in the Vatican Information Service may be used,
in part or in their entirety, by quoting the source:
V.I.S.
-Vatican Information Service.
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© Vatican Information Service 00120 Vatican City