Conclave schedule set

Following the procedure set forth by the Pope, as I outline in my article linked at the top of this page, the General Congregation of Cardinals has set the schedule for the conclave. The funeral of the Pope will begin a 9-day period of mourning. (I think I said before that the 9-day period begins with the Pope’s death; that was wrong.) The memorial Masses said each day will be entrusted to a particular group associated with the Holy Father:

• Day 1: Funeral Mass

• Day 2: Saturday, April 9, at 5 p.m.: For the faithful of Vatican City: The concelebration will be presided over by Cardinal Francesco Marchisano, archpriest of the Patriarchal Vatican Basilica.

• Day 3: Sunday, April 10, 5 p.m. For the Church of Rome. Mass presided over by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, vicar general for the diocese of Rome, and concelebrated by the clergy of Rome.

• Day 4: Monday, April 11, 5 p.m. For the Chapters of the Patriarchal Basilicas. The concelebration will be presided by Cardinal Bernard Francis Law, archbishop emeritus of Boston and archpriest of the Patriarchal Basilica of St Mary Major.

• Day 5: Tuesday, April 12, 5 p.m. Cappella Papale. Mass to be presided over by Cardinal Eugenio de Araujo Sales, archbishop emeritus of Sao Sebastiao do Rio de Janeiro, proto-priest of the College of Cardinals.

• Day 6: Wednesday, April 13, 5 p.m. For the Roman Curia. Concelebration will be presided over by Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State.

• Day 7: Thursday, April 14, 5 p.m. For the Oriental Churches. Divine Liturgy in the Oriental Rite to be presided over by His Beatitude Pierre Nasrallah Sfeir, patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites.

• Day 8: Friday, April 15, 5 p.m. For members of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. Mass presided over by Archbishop Piergiorgio Silvano Nesti, emeritus of Camerino-San Severino Marche, secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

• Day 9: Saturday, April 16, Cappella Papale. The concelebration will be presided by Cardinal Jorge Arturo Medina Estevez, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, proto-deacon of the College of Cardinals.

All the cardinal are invited to concelebrate the Masses of the Cappella Papale.