What's That You Say?

The New York Times has had very extensive coverage regarding the pre and posts goings on resulting from Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI resignation. Why did he REALLY resign? How corrupt is the Curia? And so on.

I have followed this coverage closely, but not being Catholic I am curious about only several things:

In this Times article by John F. Burns and Rachel Donado of February 26, 2013 they report:

"The main role of cardinals is to elect a new pope, and they remain eligible to vote under any circumstances, even if they have been excommunicated, Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta, the secretary for the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, said last week."

Does this mean that the eligible voting members can elect an excommunicated cardinal as Pope? I can't confirm the Times statement attributed to Bishop Arrieta. I have written to the Times Public Editor, the Times Foreign Editor and The Catholic News Service … no replies. You can find discussions on forums, but not from an authorized source such as Bishop Arrieta.

The other question I have is just who are the Memores Domini? I ask this because four women from this community will be caring for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at his temporary 'quarters' at the Castel Grandolfo. The women are laywomen and you can find some information here.

If you don't already know the Pope Emeritus will be 'hidden to the world' here, but only temperary:

Then he moves to his permanent digs here:

Poor Catholics in Louisiana are 'hidden to the world' here: