The Catholic Sun

The process of selecting a new pope is "ultimately not an election, ultimately it is a discernment," said Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington.

Seated under Gian Lorenzo Bernini's statue "Chair of St. Peter," which celebrates the teaching authority of the pope, more than 100 cardinals gathered March 6 to pray as they prepared to elect a successor to Pope Benedict XVI.

The new patriarch of Chaldean Catholics pledged to foster coexistence and dialogue and urged Christian Iraqis not to leave their homeland, warning that if emigration continues, "there will be no more Christians in the Middle East."

Three Republican members of the House of Representatives March 5 introduced a bill to protect conscience rights for both workers in the health care industry and for employers in light of the federal mandate requiring employers to cover contraceptives, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs.

A Cleveland priest who leads a faith community formed after its parish was closed in 2010 has been excommunicated for schism.Bishop Richard G. Lennon of Cleveland said in a March 4 decree that Father Robert Marrone, who is identified as pastor and administrator of the Community of St. Peter, incurred the excommunication "latae sententiae" (automatically) for failing to reconcile with the Catholic Church.

After completing their third pre-conclave meeting, the College of Cardinals still had not announced a date for the conclave. Instead, they used the March 4 and 5 meetings to discuss needs of the church.

The next pope must be "very aware" of the need for vigilance in preventing clergy sex abuse and accept a policy of "zero tolerance" as the universal law of the church, said Chicago's Cardinal Francis E. George.

The College of Cardinals began their formal pre-conclave meetings March 4 with 142 members present, 103 of whom are under the age of 80 and eligible to enter the conclave to vote for a new pope.

Chanting the Litany of the Saints, asking a host of holy men and women to help them, the cardinals enter the Sistine Chapel in procession, aware of their enormous responsibility to elect a new pope.

Anne Vargas-Leveriza, who recently began working as director of the Office of Youth and Child Protection, is committed to serving victims of sexual abuse.