The director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., responding to journalists’ questions, commented that the Holy Father is considering the publication of a Motu Proprio in the coming days, obviously before the beginning of the Sede Vacante, to clarify a few particular points regarding the Apostolic Constitution on the conclave that have arisen over the last years.
“I don’t know if he will deem it necessary or appropriate,” he added, “to elucidate the question of the opening date of the conclave. We will have to see if and when a document is published. It seems to me, for example, the clarification of some details in order to be in complete agreement with another document regarding the conclave, that is, the Ordo Rituum Conclavis. In any case, the question depends on the Pope’s judgement and if this document comes about it will be made known through the proper channels.”