Cardinals begin special papal election mass at St. Peter’s

This picture made available Tuesday, March 12, 2013 by the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano shows where the cardinals will be sitting inside the Sistine Chapel during the conclave voting, at the Vatican. Cardinals enter the Sistine Chapel on Tuesday to elect the next pope amid more upheaval and uncertainty than the Catholic Church has seen in decades: There’s no front-runner, no indication how long voting will last and no sense that a single man has what it takes to fix the many problems. AP/L’Osservatore Romano, ho

VATICAN CITY—Roman Catholic cardinals on Tuesday began celebrating a grand mass in St. Peter’s Basilica to pray for divine guidance during their secret conclave to elect the next pope set to begin later in the day.

Clad in scarlet vestments with white mitres, they processed into the vast sanctuary accompanied by Gregorian chant for the mass at 0900 GMT.

Read more...