By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Citing unauthorized press reports on their preparatory meetings for the upcoming papal election, the College of Cardinals agreed to a media blackout similar to one observed before the previous conclave in 2005. The change was announced March 6 in

By Carol Zimmermann Catholic News Service  VATICAN CITY (CNS) — After completing their third pre-conclave meeting, the College of Cardinals still had not announced a date for the conclave. Instead, they used the March 4 and 5 meetings to discuss needs of the church. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican

Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The College of Cardinals thanked retired Pope Benedict XVI for his “tireless work” and example of “generous pastoral concern.” Meeting during the second day of pre-conclave gatherings at the Vatican, the 148 cardinals present sent a telegram to the former pope, who moved

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Chanting the Litany of the Saints, asking a host of holy men and women to help them, the cardinals enter the Sistine Chapel in procession, aware of their enormous responsibility to elect a new pope. Less than half of the

By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The period immediately following a pontificate is one of excited speculation, more or less loose, about the identity of the next pope. Though secrecy rules do not forbid cardinals from naming their preferences, custom and prudence effectively do. In

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The world’s cardinals were to begin meetings at the Vatican March 4, and while onlookers are focused on who may be the next pope, the cardinals have business to deal with. Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa said the

By John Stegeman The Catholic Telegraph  Since the papacy of Pope Benedict XVI ended not in death, but abdication, the usual grieving and somber attitude of this particular period of sede vacante has been somewhat abated. Add to that a Catholic community more connected than ever through social media and

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — After Pope Benedict XVI officially became pope emeritus, he ate dinner, watched the television news and strolled through the lake-view rooms of the papal villa at Castel Gandolfo. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said he spoke March 1 with

By John Stegeman The Catholic Telegraph When the papacy of His Holiness Benedict XVI, Pope Emeritus, ended at 8 p.m. Rome time Thursday, immediate changes took place in the digital realm. When the doors were closed at Castel Gandolfo, the 39 tweets sent out by Benedict XVI as @Pontifex were

UPDATE: For more up to date information, visit Conclave Central.   Effective Thursday at 2 p.m. Eastern, 8 p.m. in Rome, the papacy of Benedict XVI came to an end. With that, the Catholic Church entered a period of sede vacante. Sede vacante is Latin for “the seat being empty”