Cardinals will on Tuesday begin to move into the Vatican accommodation where they will stay during the conclave, on the eve of their historic, secretive meeting to elect a new pope.
In the wake of the death of Pope Francis on April 21, on Wednesday in the Sistine Chapel for an election that could last hours, days, or even months.
DAILY POST reports that cardinals normally stay in the Vatican’s Santa Marta guesthouse, which has en-suite bathrooms and hotel-style room service, but there are not enough rooms for them all.
With representatives from 70 countries across five continents, this conclave is said to be the largest, and the most international ever.
Some of the cardinals will be housed at Santa Marta Vecchia, a building next door usually used to accommodate Vatican officials.
They will be able to access their rooms, assigned by drawing lots, between Tuesday and the mass on Wednesday morning that precedes the conclave.
DAILY POST recalls that both Francis and his predecessor Benedict XVI were both elected within two days, but the longest papal election in Church history lasted 1,006 days, from 1268 to 1271.
The cardinal electors, those aged under 80, and other, older cardinals on Tuesday morning began the last of their near-daily preparatory meetings for the conclave.
