Vatican response It is hard not to feel sorry for Fr Federico Lombardi, the Vatican’s senior spokesman.
If
ever someone found himself in uncharted territory without a pontifical
satnav, it is he. It’s not really his fault, he was not around the last
time (1415) that a pope resigned.
During his briefing yesterday,
some of the more cynical among the media began to compile a record of
the number of times he had to reply that, frankly, he had not a clue or
pontifical words to that effect. Fr Lombardi was unable to answer some
pretty interesting questions.
Papal ring and seal
For
example, when will the conclave to elect the next pope begin?
Or, what
will Benedict’s post-pope title be?
With whom and when will he move into
his new quarters in the Vatican?
Will he attend the public ceremonies
of his successor?
When exactly does he depart for Castelgandolfo after
the formal end of his papacy at 8pm on February 28th?
What will happen
to his papal ring and seal, objects that are normally destroyed
following the death of a pope?
To some extent, some of these questions
are of but limited relevance.
However, on arguably the most
important issue, the timing of the conclave, the papal spokesman
strongly suggested that the process would follow something close to
existing practice as laid down by the Apostolic Constitution.
In
other words, following the death of a pope, the cardinals must hold a
conclave within 20 days of the pontiff’s demise but no sooner than 15
days.
So if you read Benedict’s resignation as the start-up to the
interregnum process, then the conclave will begin on March 15th – making
it more than likely that the new pope will be elected and in situ for
Easter celebrations .
Sent out a tweet
While
Fr Lombardi came up with little that was new, Giovanna Chirri of the
ANSA news agency enjoyed some fame.
Chirri was the person whose Latin
was good enough for her to understand what Benedict was saying on Monday
when he announced his resignation.
Having filed to her agency, she then tweeted the resignation.
The rest is #history.