VATICAN CITY — With all the pomp, drama and solemnity that the Catholic Church can muster, 133 cardinals on Wednesday began the centuries-old ritual to elect a successor to Pope Francis,
With all the pomp, drama and solemnity that the Catholic Church can muster, 133 cardinals on Wednesday began the centuries-old ritual to elect a successor to Pope Francis, celebrating a morning Mass before opening the most geographically diverse conclave in the faith’s 2,000-year history.
During the morning Mass, the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, urged the voters to find a pope who prizes unity and sets aside all personal interests. The world today needs a leader who can awaken consciences, he said.
From the altar of St. Peter’s Basilica, Re prayed that they can agree “on the pope that our time needs” in their final set of marching orders before they enter the Sistine Chapel to begin voting.
Hailing from 70 countries, the cardinals are being sequestered from the outside world, their cell phones surrendered and airwaves around the Vatican jammed to prevent all communications until they find a new leader for the 1.4 billion-member church.
Francis named 108 of the 133 “princes of the church,” choosing many pastors in his image from far-flung countries like Mongolia, Sweden and Tonga that had never had a cardinal before.
His decision to surpass the usual limit of 120 cardinal electors and include younger ones from the “global south”—often marginalized countries with lower economic clout—has injected an unusual degree of uncertainty in a process that is always full of mystery and suspense.
