Cardinals at Vatican City to begin talks on next Pope

The College of Cardinals will hold daily talks leading up to a conclave in which a new Pope will be chosen, an election process that follows the stepping down of

Pope Benedict XVI after nearly eight years in office.

He was the first pontiff to resign in 600 years.

The first pre-conclave meeting on Monday morning is to be headed by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Angelo Sodano.  The Cardinals will discuss future challenges to the Church and discreetly weigh up possible papal candidates.

The conclave - to be held in the Sistine Chapel - is expected to take place next week, though not all of the 115 cardinals involved have yet arrived in Rome.

According to BBC, cardinal electors, those under the age of 80 who will take part in the conclave, will want the new Pope to be officially installed in time to preside over Holy Week.

Ceremonies start with Palm Sunday on 24 March and culminate in Easter the following Sunday.

Last year's "Vatileaks" scandal is expected to be high on the agenda when the cardinals meet. The scandal exposed corruption and infighting in the Vatican through a series of leaked documents, and the cardinals are expect this week to be briefed on a confidential report into the scandal seen by Pope Benedict.