Latest news with #cardinalelectors
CBS News
08-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
At 2025 papal conclave, some contentious issues await the new pope
Conclave set to choose next pope, with major issues facing the faith Vatican City — All the Vatican staff who will be involved in the 2025 conclave to pick the late Pope Francis' successor — from the cleaners to the cooks and custodians — have taken their oath of secrecy. The punishment for leaking information about the ancient Catholic Church ritual is immediate excommunication. The 133 cardinal electors tasked with electing the next pontiff took their own oaths on Wednesday, inside the Sistine Chapel, as the conclave officially got underway. In the days prior, they were seen going in and out of meetings to discuss the merits of the men among their own ranks — any one of whom could be chosen as the next pope, the leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics. Among the issues that differentiate the presumed frontrunners for the job are some extremely controversial topics for Catholics, including exactly how far the church should open its doors — if at all — to people like Andrea Rubera, his husband, and their three children. Conclave officials sign the oath of confidentiality at the Apostolic Palace, May 6, 2025, in Vatican City, ahead of the conclave to select Pope Francis' successor. Simone Risoluti/Getty Rubera, who has been in his same-sex relationship for years, told CBS News that "when Pope Francis died, I cried." A decade ago, Rubera and his husband were struggling over whether they could raise their kids Catholic. Then he got a phone call. "So I answered, and it was: 'Mr. Rubera, are you busy at the moment, because I see you are you are not answering my calls, and this is Pope Francis.'" He recalled his surprise as the late pontiff asked if he could make time to talk. He did, and Francis encouraged the couple to behave like any other Catholic family. Rubera said he's worried that the next pope may not be as eager to welcome him and his family into the church. "My personal fear is that our lives, our families, our rights, could be ... canceled," he said. Another big issue facing the next pope will be the role of women in the church. There has been fierce debate within the Catholic community for years about whether women should be allowed to become deacons, and eventually even priests. That door, even during the relatively progressive reign of Pope Francis, remained firmly closed. But Kate McElwee, executive director of the Women's Ordination Conference, told CBS News that, "on this question, women are not going to wait much longer." "Certainly there's a tipping point that we're facing," she said, predicting that if the Catholic Church doesn't offer new opportunities soon, "I think women will vote with their feet — they will no longer go and participate in the life of the church." When the new pope is chosen behind the closed doors of the conclave, he'll adopt his chosen papal name and then be taken to an antechamber in the Sistine Chapel to put on his papal white robes. That fitting room is called "La Stanza delle Lacrime," or, in English, "the room of tears" — for all the popes who have cried there over the centuries as the gravity of their calling sinks in.
CBC
08-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Cardinal Robert Prevost elected Pope, making him the 1st American to hold the title
At about 6:10 p.m. local time (12:10 p.m. ET), white smoke emanated from the Sistine Chapel chimney, meaning a new pope has been chosen. Cheers erupted in St. Peter's Square as the smoke billowed. The 133 cardinal electors – the largest college in history — came to a two-thirds consensus in their fourth ballot of the conclave. The average length of a conclave in recent decades is three days. A new pope has been elected after two this time. Do you have any questions about electing a new pope or the conclave process? Send an email to ask@
CNA
07-05-2025
- Politics
- CNA
Papal conclave by the numbers
VATICAN CITY: The Vatican's papal conclave to choose a new spiritual leader for the world's 1.4 billion Catholics is governed by procedures and rituals that have evolved over centuries. But the result of the election will be influenced by an arithmetic unique to this year's exercise: 133 CARDINAL ELECTORS A record number of churchmen are eligible to vote in the conclave. There are 135 who meet the criteria - to be a cardinal under the age of 80 - but only 133 are to take part in the vote, with two said to be too ill to attend. This is up from 115 during the last two conclaves in 2005 and 2013. Among them, 52 hail from Europe, 23 from Asia, 17 from South or Central America, 17 from Africa, 20 from North America and four from Oceania. 69 COUNTRIES The cardinal electors come from 69 countries across five continents, another record, plus Jerusalem. 70 YEARS AND THREE MONTHS The average age of the cardinal electors is 70 years and three months. The youngest is Ukraine's Mykola Bychok, archbishop of Melbourne, at 45. The oldest is Carlos Osoro Sierra, a Spaniard who at 79 years and 11 months was almost too old to vote. 81.2 PER CENT A large majority, 81.2 per cent, of the 133 cardinal electors were appointed by Pope Francis during his 12 years at the head of the Holy See. These 108 are taking part in their first conclave. Among the veterans, 20 were named by Benedict XVI and five by John Paul II. 17 ITALIANS For centuries ,both the papacy and the college of cardinals were dominated by Italians, but as the church has gone global, their numbers have fallen. Nevertheless, at 17, Italy still has the biggest national contribution, down from 28 in 2013. 15 NEW COUNTRIES Some 15 countries are represented for the first time, with cardinals from Haiti, Cape Verde, Papua New Guinea and South Sudan. 18 RELIGIOUS ORDERS Within the Catholic Church are several religious orders. Pope Francis, for example, was a Jesuit and 18 such movements will have cardinals in the Sistine Chapel for the voting. FOUR VOTES PER DAY If no clear winner emerges in the initial ballot, the cardinals will vote four times a day, twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon, until a majority emerges. 89-VOTE MAJORITY The new pope will need a two-thirds majority. With 133 in the room, 89 cardinals must write their names on their secret ballot papers. TWO STOVES The ballots cast by the cardinals are burned in a stove, both to preserve the secrecy of the process and to act as a signal of progress to the faithful gathered outside the sealed chapel. Today, two stoves are used, connected to the same chimney. In one, the ballots are burned, in the other, a chemical compound is burned to create either black smoke - no majority yet -- or white - a new pope has been chosen. TWO DAYS? If no majority emerges quickly, in theory, a conclave could continue for weeks or months. In practice, the previous two - the 2005 election of Pope Benedict XVI and of Pope Francis in 2013 - lasted two days. In the 20th and 21st centuries, conclaves have never lasted longer than five days, as was the case for Pope Pius XI's election in 1922, which required 14 ballots.
CBC
07-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
The papal conclave
The papal conclave | CBC News Special News Duration live A secret conclave to elect the next leader of the Catholic Church begins Wednesday, with cardinal electors set to gather inside the Sistine Chapel to choose a new pope. CBC News chief correspondent Adrienne Arsenault hosts special coverage live from Vatican City.
