Some more insights on what lies ahead for the 115 voting cardinals.
Cardinals Gather for Conclave to Select Pope
Balloting to Be Guided By Rules Old and New
By Alan Cooperman and Daniel WilliamsROME, April 17 -- Sequestered behind Vatican City's medieval walls, 115 Roman Catholic cardinals from 52 countries begin Monday to choose a successor to Pope John Paul II in a secret conclave that will follow elaborate rules both written and unwritten, ancient and new, spiritual and political.
The cardinals arrived by foot and by car Sunday at the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the Vatican guesthouse where they will sleep and eat during the conclave. All were dressed in their traditional red-trimmed black cassocks, their waists wrapped in scarlet sashes and their heads bobbing beneath scarlet skullcaps. Already forbidden to speak to reporters, they will take a vow of complete secrecy when they enter the Sistine Chapel on Monday. There, under Michelangelo's depiction of a stern Christ delivering the Last Judgment, they will mark their ballots at long tables covered with golden cloths.
Full article here.
UPDATE: Andrew considers what things might look like if the Vatican went emergent. (again with the "emergent" word...)
UPDATE 2: Couldn't resist. (Thanks Vaughn.)
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