VATICAN CITY (AP) — The last cardinal who will participate in the conclave to elect the next pope arrived in Rome on Thursday, meaning a date can now be set for the election. But it's not clear when that decision will come.
Some American and other cardinals say they want 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, seem to want to get on with the vote arguing there's no reason to delay.
"Hopefully it will be a short conclave and start very soon," Vatican-based German Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes was quoted Wednesday as telling the German daily Bild. "I would compare it with a visit to the dentist — you want to get everything over with quickly."