Cardinals set to enter conclave to decide who follows Pope Francis

Gulf Today

07-05-2025

Roman Catholic cardinals will begin the task on Wednesday of electing a new pope, locking themselves away from the world until they choose the man they hope can unite a diverse but divided global Church.
In a ritual dating back to medieval times, the cardinals will file into the Vatican's frescoed Sistine Chapel after a public Mass in St. Peter's Basilica and start their secret conclave for a successor to Pope Francis, who died last month.
No pope has been elected on the first day of a conclave for centuries, so voting could continue for several days before one of the red-hatted princes of the Church receives the necessary two-thirds majority to become the 267th pontiff.
Television journalists work near the Vatican on the first day of the conclave to elect the next pope, as seen from Rome. Reuters
There will be only one ballot on Wednesday. Thereafter, the cardinals can vote as many as four times a day.
They will burn their ballots, with black smoke from a chimney on the roof of the chapel marking an inconclusive vote, while white smoke and the peeling of bells signalling that the 1.4 billion member Church has a new leader.
The pope's influence reaches well beyond the Catholic Church, providing a moral voice and a call to conscience that no other global leader can match.
At a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica on Wednesday morning before entering the conclave, the cardinals prayed that God would help them find a pope who would exercise "watchful care" over the world.
Members of the Catholic women's group, Women's Ordination Conference, hold flares of pink smoke, calling for women's equality in the Catholic church and in protest at male-only conclave, in Rome. Reuters
In a sermon, Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re told his peers they must set aside "every personal consideration" in choosing the new pontiff and keep in mind "only ... the good of the Church and of humanity."
Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals, is 91 and will not enter the conclave, which is reserved for cardinals under the age of 80.
Cardinals in recent days have offered different assessments of what they are looking for in the next pontiff.
While some have called for continuity with Francis' vision of greater openness and reform, others have said they want to turn the clock back and embrace old traditions. Many have indicated they want a more predictable, measured pontificate.
Salvadoran Cardinal Gregorio Rosa Chavez said he did not think the cardinals would retreat from Francis' vision for the Church.
"There will not be a step backwards," Rosa Chavez, aged 82, told the Corriere della Sera newspaper. "It is not possible."
"Whoever is chosen, I think it will be a pope who continues the work begun by Francis," he said.
A record 133 cardinals from 70 countries will enter the Sistine Chapel, up from 115 from 48 nations in the last conclave in 2013 — growth that reflects Francis' efforts to extend the reach of the Church to far-flung regions with few Catholics.
No clear favourite has emerged, although Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle are considered the front-runners.
NO EAVESDROPPING
However, if it quickly becomes obvious that neither can win, votes are likely to shift to other contenders, with the electors possibly coalescing around geography, doctrinal affinity or common languages.
Among other potential candidates are France's Jean-Marc Aveline, Hungary's Peter Erdo, American Robert Prevost and Italy's Pierbattista Pizzaballa.
Re suggested the cardinals should look for a pope who respected the diversity within the Church. "Unity does not mean uniformity, but a firm and profound communion in diversity," he said in his sermon.
As in medieval times, the cardinals will be banned from communicating with outsiders during the conclave, and the Vatican has taken high-tech measures to ensure secrecy, including jamming devices to prevent any eavesdropping.
Reuters