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Now that we have gotten somewhat used to yesterday’s news, and all speculation has, well, not died down, but channeled into a few set directions, here’s a look at the major players in the coming sede vacante period.
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The Apostolic Penitentiary, concerned with questions of conscience from the faithful and the pressing matters related to it, will continue to function during the sede vacante. Cardinal Manuel Monteiro de Castro, who leads the office, will remain in office likewise.
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone (pictured) will remain on as Camerlengo. He will head the management of the goods and finances of the Holy See. He will also chair the daily meetings of the College of Cardinals for the daily affairs of the Church. Upon the election of the new pope, he will accompany him to the papal apartments and hand him the keys. Cardinal Bertone will also declare the result of every ballot during the conclave. Upon his invitation, the cardinals will meet for discussion and reflection when needed. The vice-chamberlain, Archbishop Pier Luigi Celata, will work with him outside the conclave.- The cleric prelates of the Apostolic Chamber will assist the Camerlengo. They are Msgr. Assunto Scotti, Msgr. Luigi Cerchiaro, Msgr. Paolo Luca Braida (Italians all), Msgr. Philip James Whitmore (British), Msgr. Winfried König (German), Msgr. Osvaldo Neves de Almeida (Argentinian) and Msgr. Krzysztof Józef Nykiel (Polish).
During the sede vacante, the archpriests of the papal basilicas will take over the Pope’s liturgical duties. They are Cardinal Agostino Vallini (pictured) for St. John Lateran, Cardinal Angelo Comastri for St. Peter’s, Cardinal James Harvey for St. Paul-Outside-the-Walls and Cardinal Santos Abril y Castelló for St. Mary Major.- Also involved in the papal liturgies during the sede vacante are the Master of Ceremonies, Msgr. Guido Marini, and the Almoner of His Holiness, Archbishop Guido Pozzo.
- The pastoral care of the Diocese of Rome will be the responsibility of the Vicars-General: Cardinal Agostino Vallini. for Rome and Cardinal Angelo Comastri for the Vatican City State.
- After the cardinals have entered the Sistine Chapel for the conclave, and after they have all taken the oath, Msgr. Guido Marini will call “Extra omnes!”. He will distribute the ballot papers to the cardinals and then leave the chapel..
- Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, in place of the Cardinal-Dean (Cardinal Sodano is 85 and therefore too old to take part in the conclave), will announce the start of the first ballot after any remaining questions have been answered. Cardinal Re will also ask the newly elected Pope if he accepts his election. If Cardinal Re himself is elected, that task falls to Cardinal Bertone.
Cardinal James Harvey (pictured), as the junior Cardinal-Deacon, will lock the doors of the Sistine Chapel before the first ballot. He will be responsible for who enters and leaves during the voting: assistants to those cardinals who may be too ill to be in the Sistine Chapel can leave and return to collect those cardinals’ ballots.- Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, as the College of Cardinals’ Protodeacon (the most senior Cardinal-Deacon) will have the honour to announce the “habemus papam” to the masses on St. Peter’s Square.
The Curia of the Church will in many ways cease to function once the Pope has abdicated. Only some pressing matters may be handled by the College of Cardinals, but she is not allowed to do anything that is normally under a Pope’s authority.

Cardinal Eijk holding the bull of his assigned title church
Last week, I tried to predict which title churches and deaconries the new cardinals would be getting. While much was guesswork, I did succeed in making a few reasonable guesses: Sant’ Atanasio might go to Cardinal Muresan or Cardinal Alencherry; Nostra Signora di Guadalupe a Monte Mario to Cardinal Dolan or Cardinal Collins; San Gioacchino ai Prati di Castello to Cardinal Eijk; San Bernardo alle Terme to Cardinal Alencherry; San Giuseppe all’ Aurelio to Cardinal Woelki; San Gerardo Maiella to Cardinal Duka; Santissimo Redentore e Sant’ Alfonso in Via Merulana to Cardinal Dolan or Cardinal Collins; Sacro Cuore di Gesù a Castro Pretorio to Cardinal Ries. I also suggested to San Patrizio would remain vacant and that San Teodoro would go to a cardinal with some link with the Orthodox Churches.
Well, in the end I guessed right three times: Cardinal Allencherry did get San Bernardo alle Terme, Cardinal Dolan got Nostra Signora di Guadalupe a Monte Mario, Cardinal Muresan got Sant’ Atanasio.
Here is the full list of new cardinals with their title churches and deaconries
- Fernando Cardinal Filoni, Cardinal-deacon of Nostra Signora di Coromoto in San Giovanni di Dio
- Manuel Cardinal Monteiro de Castro, Cardinal-deacon of San Domenico di Guzman
- Santos Cardinal Abril y Castellò, Cardinal-deacon of San Ponziano
- Antonio Maria Cardinal Vegliò, Cardinal-deacon of San Cesareo in Palatio
- Giuseppe Cardinal Bertello, Cardinal-deacon of Santi Vito, Modesto e Crescenzia
- Francesco Cardinal Coccopalmerio, Cardinal-deacon of San Giuseppe del Falegnami
- João Cardinal Bráz de Aviz, Cardinal-deacon of Sant’ Elena fuori Porta Prenestina
- Edwin Frederick Cardinal O’Brien, Cardinal-deacon of San Sebastiano al Palatino
- Domenico Cardinal Calcagno, Cardinal-deacon of Santissima Annunciazione della Beata Vergine Maria a Via Ardeatina
- Giuseppe Cardinal Versaldi, Cardinal-deacon of Sacro Cuore di Gesù a Castro Pretorio
- George Cardinal Alencherry, Cardinal-priest of San Bernardo alle Terme
- Thomas Christopher Cardinal Collins, Cardinal-priest of San Patrizio
- Dominik Cardinal Duka, Cardinal-priest of Santi Marcellino e Pietro
- Willem Jacobus Cardinal Eijk, Cardinal-priest of San Callisto
- Giuseppe Cardinal Betori, Cardinal-priest of San Marcello
- Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan, Cardinal-priest of Nostra Signora di Guadalupe a Monte Mario
- Rainer Maria Cardinal Woelki, Cardinal-priest of San Giovanni Maria Vianney
- John Cardinal Tong Hon, Cardinal-priest of Regina Apostolorum
- Lucian Cardinal Muresan, Cardinal-priest of Sant’ Atanasio
- Julien Cardinal Ries, Cardinal-deacon of San Antonio de Padova a Circonvallazione Appia
- Prosper Cardinal Grech, Cardinal-deacon of Santa Maria Goretti
- Karl Josef Cardinal Becker, Cardinal-deacon of San Giuliano Martire

San Callisto
As you will have noticed when comparing this list to the one in my previous post, there are five new deaconries and one new title church on the list. The Holy Father is free to create and abolish such churches as he sees fit, of course, but it’s interesting to wonder why some titles remain vacant as new ones are created.
Cardinal Eijk’s title church is San Callisto, located in Trastevere. The church itself dates from the 17th century, although there has been a church dedicated to Saint Pope Callistus I since the 8th century. The holy pope himself reigned in the 3rd century and was martyred and buried on the site where his church now stands. As cardinal-priest of this church, Cardinal Eijk succeeds Corrado Cardinal Ursi, the former archbishop of Naples who died in 2003. The later Popes Pius VII (pope from 1800 to 1823) and Gregory XVI (1831 to 1846) also held this title church.
It is a fairly small church, as Roman churches go, with a single aisle and chapels on either side.
In essence, a cardinal will have little to do with his title church or deaconry, although some are tasked with the financial upkeep of their assigned church or deaconry. All such churches, though, will prominently feature the coat of arms of their cardinal-protector on the facade.

It was a pretty speedy ceremony that expanded the Church’s College of Cardinals to 213, with 125 of them being electors. One of them, of course, being Cardinal Wim Eijk (I’ll have to start using another tag in posts about him from now on). Upon watching the live stream of the creation of the 22 new cardinals, few things stood out, such as the visible emotion on the face of Cardinal Prosper Grech’s he came forward to receive the biretta and the lengthy conversation that Cardinal John Tong Hon started with the Holy Father. Most of all, though, it was a scene of joy, for the new cardinals of course, but also for the Church as a whole. These men accepted the invitation to carry more tasks, more responsibility on their shoulders, and they did so with joy.
For now, let’s share that joy with a few more photos of today’s main event.

Cardinal Eijk has received the ring and biretta from the Holy Father

Other cardinals congratulate Cardinal Eijk

The youngest member of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Rainer Woelki

Before the start of the consistory, Cardinals-designate Eijk, Dolan and Tong Hon

Before the consistory, Cardinal-designate Monteiro de Castro chats with Cardinal Cañizares Llovera

With his trademark enthusiasm, Cardinal Dolan greets Cardinal Sodano

As he enters St. Peter's, Pope Benedict XVI p[asses Cardinals-designate Dolan, Betori, Woelki and Tong Hon

All doubts about his health cast aside, Cardinal Becker

Cardinal George Alencherry blesses the faithful in St. Peter's Square

An emotional Cardinal Grech
Photo credits:
[1], [2], [3], [4], [11] Alberto Pizzoli/AFP/Getty Images
[5], [7], [8] AP Photo/Andrew Medichini
[6] AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito
[9], [10] Reuters/Tony Gentile



Come the evening of 28 February, the Church will have to make do without a Supreme Pontiff. For how long, we don’t know, and it is certainly a different situation than the last time this happened.
The major event of the sede vacante will of course be the conclave to elect the new Pope. During today’s press briefing, Fr. Federico Lombardi said that this will take place in mid-March, and we’ll have a new Pope before Easter. Barring any deaths, 117 cardinal electors will travel to Rome to participate in the conclave.




