The last cardinal who will participate in the
conclave to elect the next pope has arrived in Rome, meaning a date can
now be set for the election.One US cardinal said a decision on the start date is expected soon.
Some American and other cardinals had said they wanted to continue the pre-conclave meetings that have been going on all week for as long as it takes so they can discern who among them has the stuff to be pope and discuss the problems of the church.
Some Vatican-based cardinals, defensive about criticisms of the Vatican's internal governance that have been aired recently, seemed to want to get on with the vote arguing there is no reason to delay.
"Hopefully it will be a short conclave and start very soon," Vatican-based German cardinal Paul Josef Cordes was quoted as telling the German daily Bild. "I would compare it with a visit to the dentist - you want to get everything over with quickly."
US cardinal Roger Mahony tweeted that the discussions were "reaching a conclusion".
"Setting of date for conclave nearing. Mood of excitement prevails among Cardinals," he wrote.
Once the conclave starts, there is very little time for discussion. Cardinals take two votes in the morning, two votes in the afternoon - all of them conducted in silent prayer, not chatter, amid the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel.
As a result, setting the date for the start of the conclave is akin to setting the deadline for when pre-conclave deliberations will finish.
These discussions are designed to give cardinals a chance to get to know one another better and dive into the problems confronting the church and who among them is best suited to fix them.
For example, cardinals received a briefing on the Holy See's finances amid questions about the administration of the Vatican bureaucracy and continued suspicions about the Vatican bank.
As such, "it seems very normal and very wise" to wait to set the conclave date until all cardinals are confident that they are nearing an end to their deliberations, said the Vatican spokesman the Rev Federico Lombardi.
The arrival in Rome of Vietnamese cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man, however, signalled at least that a vote could be taken on a start date now that all 115 cardinal electors are in place.