  Vatican launches Papal vote preparations March 4, 2013 - 09:25 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Preparations for electing Roman Catholicism's new leader begin in earnest on Monday, March 4 as the College of Cardinals opens daily talks to sketch an identikit for the next pope and ponder who among them might fit it, Reuters said. The idea is to have the new pope elected during next week and officially installed several days later so he can preside over the Holy Week ceremonies starting with Palm Sunday on March 24 and culminating in Easter the following Sunday. The general congregations, closed-door meetings in the interregnum between a papacy and the conclave to choose the next one, will hold morning and afternoon sessions in an apparent effort to discuss as much as possible in a short time. The list of challenges facing the crisis-hit Church could take weeks to debate, but the Vatican seems keen to have only a week of talks so the 115 cardinal electors -- those under 80 -- can enter the Sistine Chapel for the conclave next week. High on the agenda will be Church governance after last year's Vatileaks scandal exposed corruption and rivalries in the Vatican's Curia bureaucracy. Cardinals expect to be briefed on a secret report to the pope on the problems it highlighted. Partner news  Top stories Amy Elliott, chief administrative officer of the Oklahoma medical examiner's office, said 51 were confirmed dead. An Islamist insurgency, once confined largely to the republic of Chechnya, has spread across the North Caucasus in recent years. Earlier, at least five Azerbaijan soldiers were killed and six seriously injured when their vehicle rammed into a tree and overturned. Among its provisions are bans on child marriage and the traditional practice of selling and buying women to settle disputes.   Partner news |  Latest news “Wall Street and W” scribe to adapt “Three Graves Full” novel  The book follows a mild-mannered guy who happens to kill somebody he wishes he’d never met, and buries the body in his backyard.Park Chan-wook cult film “Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance” getting remake The film centers on two men who are bound by their common sense of loss and headed on a collision course of revenge.Karabakh President meets Armenia’s judge advocate At the meeting, Persident Bako Sahakyan and deputy attorney-general Gevorg Kostanyan discussed the activities of prosecutor’s office.Deputy FM slams Azeri attempts to distort reality behind Karabakh conflict Shavarsh Kocharyan: Baku’s statements on unacceptability of a status quo in Karabakh conflict aim to prevent alteration of the status. |
