The Vatican is taking the first steps to electing a new pope and filling a vacancy that New York’s Timothy Cardinal Dolan said has created “sadness.”

Angelo Cardinal Sodano, of the College of Cardinals, faxed and e-mailed formal invitations to colleagues worldwide yesterday. Cardinals begin working Monday to set a date for a conclave to elect a successor to Benedict XVI, who resigned on Thursday.

“We miss the pope, and we need a new one,” Dolan said.