Conclave to elect new pope to convene April 18 (moved from ATSNN), page 1

Sistine Chapel, on April 18th, will hold the secret meetings to elect the new pope. More than 100 cardinals will face the task of replacing one of the giants of the 20th century, the Vatican announced on Wednesday. The event will take place away from cameras and will be done in complete secret from the outside world.

msnbc.msn.com
The College of Cardinals on Wednesday set April 18 as the date for the start of its historic secret vote in the Sistine Chapel to elect a new pope.

Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the late Pope John Paul II did not release the name of the cardinal he secretly appointed.

John Paul had said he had named the secret cardinal in 2003 and held “in pectore,” or “in the heart” — a formula that has been used when the pope wants to appoint a cardinal in a country where the church is oppressed.

Navarro-Valls said the cardinals read John Paul's 15-page testament, written in Polish at different stages of his pontificate, and would release the text on Thursday.

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The electors will vote in the Sistine Chapel twice a day until they have selected a new Pontiff to lead the 1.1 billion member Church. The only way we will know if a pope has been elected will be due to white smoke, black smoke means that no pope has been elected, some readers of Angels and Demons will know how the basic voting works thanks to Dan Brown's recent book.

[edit on 6-4-2005 by infinite]

[edit on 6-4-2005 by infinite]