07-05-2025
Irish at conclave on what they want to see in new pope
The election of a new pope starts today, with cardinals from around the world set to begin the process of voting.
And, while no one knows when white smoke will emerge, or even who will be the next head of the Roman Catholic Church, there is much anticipation.
Many people are coming here in anticipation of the election of a new pope - and some of those people are Irish.
Ann-Marie O'Doherty from Co Donegal said it was on her bucket list to come to witness the conclave after the death of Pope Francis.
She was diagnosed with cancer 14 months ago.
"I don't regularly go to mass. I don't regularly go to confession but I think it is in my DNA. For most Irish Catholics we feel the same. It's in our DNA. I can't deny it," she said.
She has studied the mechanics of the conclave and hope that Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle will be the next pope.
"I think that he would take up Pope Francis mantle of inclusion. They call him the 'Asian Francis'. He is extremely charismatic and he is young. We want to keep young people in the Church so you have to look at him.
"I will stay until the white smoke comes up," she added.
The white smoke Ms O'Doherty talks about is not expected to happen today.
This morning, cardinals celebrated a special mass - the Holy Mass for the Election of the Roman Pontiff - in St Peter's Basilica.
This afternoon, they will walk in procession to the Sistine Chapel where the conclave will start at 4.30pm.
Once the cardinals enter the conclave all access to the outside world is cut off.
The Vatican issued a statement saying it would cut the phone signal during the conclave.
But that will not deter Ms O'Doherty from remaining in Rome. She, coming here for the first time, feels peace and the anxiety of facing her cancer diagnoses has dissipated.
"I was looking forward to retirement. I got a pretty devastating diagnosis 14 months ago.
"Perhaps that drove me to this journey to go back to what is it all about.
"I am staring at my mortality. I have done all the crying. All of the what ifs, but today arrive to St Peter's … the one thing I have not had since my diagnosis is peace. I feel peaceful," Ms O'Doherty added.
Carlow family hopes new pope will follow in Francis's footsteps
The election of the new Pope works on a two-thirds majority. The first ballot is expected this evening. Voting will then happen four times daily after that - twice in the morning and twice in the evening.
On the run up to the conclave, last Friday, a special stove was installed in the Sistine Chapel.
After each round of voting cardinals' ballots are burnt until a new pope is picked.
Black smoke indicates that the required majority for a new pope has not been found.
White smoke means that a Pope is elected.
Denise O'Mahony, Barry McKeown, and their sons Kevin and Rory McKeown from Carlow organised a trip to Rome on holidays for this week.
That is something they are delighted that coincided with the election of a new pope.
They are waiting for the white smoke and hope the new pope will follow in the footsteps of Pope Francis.
Ms O'Mahony said the Roman Catholic Church is at a crossroads.
"They need to include women and young people more," she said.
17-year-old Rory McKeown said: "I think that it important that there is an aspect of change. There needs to be representation from outside of Europe. Catholicism is a worldwide religion - so we need a worldwide approach."
With the Catholic population growing in Asia and Africa, it is thought that cardinals lean toward an Asian or African pope.
Some say that would be more representative of the 1.4 billion baptised Roman Catholics worldwide.
Archbishop John Kennedy, the Head of the Disciplinary Section of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican said there were some "essential qualities" a pope has to have.
He told RTÉ's Morning Ireland: "He has to be a kind compassionate love pastor with a pastor's heart.
"The next pope will be conscious of what the predecessors were like and try to bring his own gifts to the future."
He said ideology and geography will play a role but that "the whole of idea of gathering in the conclave is to bring all of these elements and to coalesce them in to one particular view".
"The pope is the pope of the whole Catholic Church - 1.4 billion people - and not just from a particular nation," he added.
