Cardinals get finance readout but no conclave date

[March 07, 2013]  VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Cardinals in Rome for the conclave to elect the next pope have received a briefing on the Holy See's finances amid questions about the administration of the Vatican bureaucracy and continued suspicions about its bank.

The heads of the Vatican's three main financial offices briefed the cardinals Thursday, as required by rules covering the transition period between papacies during which cardinals meet daily to discuss problems of the church and the qualities needed in a new pope.

In their morning session the cardinals didn't set a date for the start of the conclave; the last of the 115 voting-age cardinals, Vietnamese Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man, is arriving later Thursday and the date can't be set until he does.

Discussions on Thursday again included questions about the Holy See's administration.

[Associated Press]

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