Date set to pick new pope

2005-04-06 14:06

Vatican City - The College of Cardinals on Wednesday set April 18 as the date for the start of its historic secret vote in the Sistine Chapel to elect a new pope.

Vatican spokesperson Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the late Pope John Paul II did not release the name of the cardinal he secretly appointed. He said the cardinals read John Paul's 15-page testament, written in Polish at different stages of his pontificate, and would release the text on Thursday.

"It is to serious to give a will to any translator," said Vatican spokesperson Joaquin Navarro-Valls. "It will be published tomorrow in Italian and Polish."

The first part of the testament was written in 1979, a year after he assumed the papacy, Navarro-Valls said. He said the cardinals read a preliminary Italian translation on Wednesday of the document, which the pope wrote in Polish, as they met behind closed doors for a third day. - AFP

- AP