Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican Press Office, informed journalists today that Pope Benedict XVI is considering publishing a Motu Propio, a document released by the Holy Father on his own initiative, prior to the beginning of the Sede Vacante.
The document would set out to clarify several specific points that have arisen over the years regarding the Apostolic Constitution on Conclaves.
“I don’t know if he will deem it necessary or appropriate to clarify the question of the opening date of the conclave,” Fr. Lombardi said.
“We will have to see if and when a document is published. It seems to me, for example, the clarification of some details is in order to be in complete agreement with another document regarding the conclave, that is, the Ordo Rituum Conclavis.”
When asked by journalists, Fr. Lombardi explained that the Ordo Rituum Conclavis is a book that specifies the procedures of the Conclave. If the Molto Propio is published, it will clarify several details regarding the order of the Conclave.
Fr. Lombardi went on to say that the question as to whether the document will be published or not will depend on the Pope’s judgment and will be “made known through the proper channels.”
The director of the Holy See Press Office affirmed that there are currently no details on what the Motu Propio would contain. “It has neither been approved nor published so I cannot speculate on what exactly it will say,” he said.
“I wish to point out that there are specific points that were proposed as points that needed clarification; this explains why there [would be] a Molto Propio, in preparation of several points that were brought up previously,” Fr. Lombardi concluded.
