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Catholic cardinals gather at the Vatican to elect a new pope/ What to know about the Conclave?

Politiko 2025-05-07 16:25:52

Catholic cardinals gather at the Vatican to elect a new pope/ What to know about

Roman Catholic cardinals gathered on Wednesday to begin the task of electing a new pope. They will remain secluded from the world until they choose the man they hope can unite a diverse but divided world church. In a ritual with roots in the Middle Ages, the cardinals will enter the Vatican's Sistine Chapel after a public Mass in St. Peter's Basilica and begin a secret council to choose a successor to Pope Francis, who died last month.

No pope has been elected on the first day of the council, known as a secret conclave, in centuries, so voting could continue for several days before one of the church's red-hatted princes gets the two-thirds majority needed to become the 267th pope. There will be only one vote on Wednesday. In the days that follow, cardinals can vote up to four times a day.

Finally, they burn the ballots, and if black smoke rises from the chimney on the roof of the chapel, it means that a new pope has not yet been chosen. The white smoke and the ringing of bells indicate that the church of 1.4 billion members has a new leader. At Mass on Wednesday morning in St. Peter's Basilica, before entering the conclave, the cardinals prayed that God would help them find a pope who will exercise "vigilant care" over the world.

In his homily, Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re told his colleagues that they should set aside “any personal evaluation” when choosing a new pope and consider “only the good of the church and of humanity.” Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, is 91 and will not participate in the conclave, which is open to cardinals under the age of 80.

Cardinals have offered mixed opinions in recent days about what they want from the next pope. While some have called for a continuation of Francis' vision of more reform and openness, others have called for a return to old traditions. Many have expressed a desire for a more predictable and measured papacy. A record 133 cardinals from 70 countries will enter the Sistine Chapel, compared with 115 from 48 countries in the 2013 conclave - an increase that reflects Francis' efforts to expand the church's influence in remote regions with few Catholics.

There is still no clear favorite, although Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle are considered among the leading contenders. As in medieval times, the cardinals will be prohibited from communicating with the outside world during the conclave, and the Vatican has taken high-tech measures to ensure secrecy, including signal-jamming devices to prevent eavesdropping.

The average length of the last ten conclaves has been just over three days, and none has lasted more than five days. The 2013 conclave lasted just two days. The cardinals will try to wrap up the process quickly this time around, too, to avoid the impression that they are divided or that the church is without leadership./ REL

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