The group, which includes U.S. Cardinal Sean O'Malley from Boston, will examine ways to revise the Vatican constitution, Pastor Bonus, which sets the rules for running the Roman Curia, or church hierarchy.
Though Benedict left the rules greatly untouched, experts on the Church's constitution will comb through the section on the "Vacancy of the Apostolic See and the Election of the Roman Pontiff" (how to elect a new pope when the office is vacant) and interpret proper protocol for the election.