Cardinals will not have to wait two weeks before meeting in a conclave to elect a new pope, the resigning head of the Roman Catholic Church ruled on Monday, changing the Vatican's constitution.
Previous rules said that 15 days had to pass from the end of a papacy. But Pope Benedict XVI issued a decree stating: "I leave the College of Cardinals the faculty to bring forward the start of the Conclave if all electing Cardinals are present."
Benedict also drafted an oath of secrecy about what goes on inside the conclave, which the cardinals will have to swear by, and face excommunication if they breach it.