Second General Congregation of Cardinals held in the Vatican
Cardinals present in Rome gather for the second General Congregation and approve the programme for the Novemdiales, the ancient nine-day period of mourning for the late Pope Francis.
The second General Congregation of Cardinals began on Wednesday afternoon in the Synod Hall at about 5:00 PM, and ended at 6:30 PM.
According to the Holy See Press Office, 103 cardinals were present. They began the meeting with the ‘Veni, Sancte Spiritus‘ prayer, and then with a prayer in suffrage of Pope Francis.
The Cardinals who were not present at Tuesday’s General Congregation were sworn in.
The programme of the Novemdiales, the ancient nine-day period of mourning for the Pope, was approved. You can read the programme here.
The next General Congregation will be on Thursday morning at 9:00 AM.
At the first General Congregation, held on Tuesday morning, the Cardinals decided to suspend all scheduled beatifications until the new Pope can approve them.
Moreover, in accordance with the norms of Universi Dominici Gregis, a commission of three Cardinals was selected by lot to assist the Camerlengo in the governance of the Church during the sede vacante.
These three Cardinals represent the three orders of the College of Cardinals and are replaced every three days. The first group of three Cardinals chosen was Pietro Parolin (episcopal order), Stanisław Ryłko (presbyteral order), and Fabio Baggio (diaconal order).
The Holy See Press Office noted that around 20,000 people had paid their respects to the late Pope Francis as of 7:30 PM on Wednesday evening.
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