Roman Catholic cardinals convened on Saturday to discuss further details of the transition until a successor is named to Pope John Paul II, and declined afterwards to comment on their deliberations.
A South African cardinal, Wilfrid Fox Napier, said as the meeting broke up that they were preparing for the conclave and would not comment.
The conclave, when cardinals meet in secret to begin the process of electing a successor Pope, is to begin on April 18.
Saturday's meeting was the sixth in all since John Paul II died on April 2, and lasted around two hours.
The daily series of meetings has been broken only by the ceremonial funeral on Friday of the pontiff in front of world leaders and one million Catholic pilgrims in and around the Vatican.
Earlier meetings focussed on the funeral arrangements and setting the date for the conclave.