Conclave voters urged to elect a pope who seeks unity and avoids
personal interest
[May 07, 2025]
By NICOLE WINFIELD
VATICAN CITY (AP) — With all the pomp, drama and solemnity that the
Catholic Church can muster, 133 cardinals began the centuries-old ritual
to elect a successor to Pope Francis, celebrating a morning Mass on
Wednesday before opening the most geographically diverse conclave in the
faith’s 2,000-year history.
The dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re,
presided over the service, urging the voters to set aside all personal
interests and find a pope who prizes unity. 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” as he offered a final set of marching
orders before the cardinals enter the Sistine Chapel later Wednesday to
begin the secret voting.
Hailing from 70 countries, the cardinals are being sequestered from the
outside world, their cellphones 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,
with smoke signals telling the world if a pope has been elected or not.
Many cardinals hadn’t met one another until last week and lamented they
needed more time to get to know each another, raising questions about
how long it might take for one man to secure the two-thirds majority, or
89 ballots, necessary to become the 267th pope.
“Wait and see, a little patience, wait and see,” said Cardinal Mario
Zenari, the Vatican’s ambassador to Syria as he arrived for the final
day of pre-vote discussions.
A final Mass, then ‘All out’
The cardinals began the day by participating in the Mass in St. Peter’s
Basilica, attended by Vatican officials and the public. The 91-year-old
dean of the college, Re, prayed for cardinals to find the wisdom,
counsel and understanding to elect a worthy new shepherd.
Wearing bright red vestments, the cardinals processed down the central
aisle of the basilica as the Sistine Chapel’s boys’ choir sang. They
took up their seats around the main altar, which lies above the
traditional burial place of St. Peter, considered to be the first pope.
Re had presided at Francis’ funeral, delivering a heartfelt sermon
recalling history’s first Latin American pope and the reforming 12-year
papacy he oversaw.
At 4:30 p.m. (1430 GMT; 10:30 a.m. EDT) the cardinals walk solemnly into
the frescoed Sistine Chapel, chanting the meditative “Litany of the
Saints” and the Latin hymn “Veni Creator,” imploring the saints and the
Holy Spirit to help them pick a pope.
Once there, they pledge to maintain secrecy about what is about to
transpire and to not allow “any interference, opposition or any other
form of intervention” from outsiders to influence their voting.
Standing before Michelangelo’s vision of heaven and hell in “The Last
Judgment,” each cardinal places his hand on the Gospel and swears to
carry out that duty.
The awesomeness of the chapel's frescoes, and Michelangelo's in
particular, is meant to remind the cardinals of the weighty
responsibility they bear. In his regulations for the conclave, St. John
Paul II wrote that in the Sistine Chapel, “everything is conducive to an
awareness of the presence of God, in whose sight each person will one
day be judged.”
After the cardinals take their oaths, a senior cardinal delivers a
meditation. The master of papal liturgical ceremonies, Archbishop Diego
Ravelli, calls out “Extra omnes,” Latin for “all out.” Anyone not
eligible to vote then leaves and the chapel doors close, allowing the
work to begin.
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A nun shelters from the rain as she follows a final Mass celebrated
by cardinals inside St. Peter's Basilica before the conclave to
elect a new pope, in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday,
May 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
The cardinals don’t have to take a first vote on Wednesday, but they
usually do. Assuming no winner is found, the Vatican said black
smoke could be expected out of the Sistine Chapel chimney at around
7 p.m.
The cardinals retire for the night and return Thursday morning. They
can hold up to two ballots in the morning and two in the afternoon
until a winner is found.
While cardinals this week said they expected a short conclave, it
will likely take at least a few rounds of voting. For the past
century, it has taken between three and eight ballots to find a
pope. John Paul I — the pope who reigned for 33 days in 1978 — was
elected on the third ballot. His successor, John Paul II, needed
eight. Francis was elected on the fifth in 2013.
Lobbying before the conclave
While the cardinals are supposed to resist any “secular” influences
in their choice, such lobbying abounded in Rome in the days before
the conclave as various groups reminded cardinals of what ordinary
Catholics want in a leader.
Young Catholics penned an open letter reminding cardinals that there
is no church without young people, women and the laity. Conservative
Catholic media slipped cardinals copies of a glossy book containing
their assessments of contenders. Survivors of clergy sexual abuse
warned cardinals that they would be held accountable if they failed
to find a leader who will crack down on decades of abuse and
cover-up.
Advocates for women’s ordination were sending pink smoke signals
over the Vatican to demand that women be allowed to be priests, so
they too can vote in a conclave.
Lisette Herrera, a 54-year-old tourist from the Dominican Republic,
was deeply moved to find herself by chance in Rome as the conclave
began. She decided Wednesday morning to skip the Spanish Steps and
Trevi Fountain and pray instead in St. Peter’s Square.
“I’m praying to the Holy Spirit for a young pope who would stay with
us for a long time,” she said. “I don’t believe in conclave
politics, I just feel that the Holy Spirit is here and that’s all we
need to know.”
Challenges facing a new pope
There are any number of challenges facing a new pope and weighing on
the cardinals, above all whether to continue and consolidate
Francis’ progressive legacy on promoting women, LGBTQ+ acceptance,
the environment and migrants, or roll it back to try to unify a
church that became more polarized during his pontificate. The clergy
sex abuse scandal hung over the pre-conclave talks.
Since Francis chose 80% of the voters, continuity is likely, but the
form it might take is uncertain and identifying front-runners has
been a challenge.
But some names keep appearing on lists of “papabile,” or cardinals
having the qualities to be pope.
— Cardinal Pietro Parolin, 70, is a leading Italian, by nature of
his office. He was Francis’ secretary of state, the Vatican No. 2,
and known to every cardinal.
— Filipino Cardinal Luis Tagle, 67, is a top candidate to be
history’s first Asian pope. He had a similarly high-profile job,
heading the Vatican’s evangelization office responsible for the
Catholic Church in much of the developing world.
— Hungarian Cardinal Peter Erdo, 72, the archbishop of Budapest, is
a leading candidate representing the more conservative wing of the
church.
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