Cardinals come together before the conclave: Senior members of the church start arriving at in Rome as they prepare to elect new Pope
The eyes of 1.4 billion Catholics are fixed on the Vatican City today as 132 cardinals started arriving in Rome as they prepare to elect a new Pope.
The Conclave - the ancient and tightly choreographed ritual to elect a new pontiff - begins Wednesday, with white smoke set to signal the moment the Church has a new leader.
They will begin moving into the Vatican accommodation on Tuesday where they will stay during the conclave.
They normally stay in the Vatican's Santa Marta guesthouse, which has en-suite bathrooms and hotel-style room service, but there are not enough rooms for them all.
In the meantime, the Vatican is awash with purple-robed prelates, hushed speculation, and tightened security.
This afternoon, Vatican News confirmed that 170 Cardinals, including 132 with the right to vote, participated in the 11th General Congregation - a high-level pre-conclave meeting.
According to Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni, key themes included the faith of migrants, ethnocentrism, ongoing conflicts across Asia and Africa, and the Church's future in a fractured world.
'The cardinals outlined the figure of a pastoral Pope,' Bruni noted, 'with a focus on dialogue and building relationships.'
But even before ballots are cast, the wheels of tradition have begun to turn.
Roughly 100 Vatican support staff — from confessors and translators to doctors and cooks — swore an oath of secrecy in the Pauline Chapel, pledging total silence about the proceedings under the penalty of automatic excommunication.
The cardinal-electors will do the same Wednesday before casting their first votes under Michelangelo's famed frescoes.
Bruni initially said today that cardinals would be asked to leave their mobile phones at their Vatican residence, Santa Marta, but that they wouldn't be confiscated.
But hours later, at an evening briefing, he said that they would hand their phones over at Santa Marta and only get them back at the end of the conclave.
The Vatican also plans to use signal jamming around the Sistine Chapel and the residences to prevent electronic surveillance or communication outside the conclave, with the Vatican gendarmes overseeing the security measures.
In one of the most tightly controlled events in the modern religious world, conclave protocol ensures that every corner of the Vatican involved in the papal election is locked down - from the private buses that ferry cardinals between residences and the Chapel, to the meals served by laypeople sworn to silence.
The conclave's duration is anyone's guess. Some last a day, others stretch for weeks. What is certain is that the world will know the moment a new Pope is chosen — when a puff of white smoke curls from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, followed by the famous Latin declaration, 'Habemus Papam.'
Meanwhile, beyond the walls of the Vatican, the Church continues to wrestle with its present and future. On Monday, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors issued a stark message to the cardinals: Put victims of abuse at the heart of the Church's renewal.
'Let no concern of scandal obscure the urgency of truth,' the commission urged. 'The Church's credibility depends on real accountability, transparency, and action rooted in justice.'
In a parallel gathering, nearly 900 leaders of women's religious orders met in Rome this week to discuss their role in carrying forward Pope Francis' vision.
Sister Mary Barron, president of the umbrella group of leaders of women's religious orders, urged the superiors and the over 650,000 nuns worldwide to pray that the cardinals make the right choice and reflect on how to carry forward Francis' vision
'We must be vigilant in doing our part to keep that flame of church renewal alive,' she told the assembly of sisters - some in regular clothes, others in traditional habits.
With representatives from 70 countries across five continents, this conclave is the largest - and the most international - ever.
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