Election for next Pope: Special Vatican mass begins ahead of the conclave
On Wednesday, Cardinals from different parts of the globe came together for the final Mass at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. After the mass, they went on to seclude themselves in order to vote for a new Pope who will lead over the 1.4 billion Catholics around the world.
It is expected that 133 cardinal electors will be a part of the conclave in which they will vote to select a successor for Pope Francis who passed away last month, after a 12 year reign.
None of the candidate prelates have clearly stood out dominantly until now among the more progressive and conservative Church factions because there seems to be an open race to the head of this 2000 year old institution.
Because of current geopolitical rocking uncertainties, the newly elected Pope has to handle controversial disputes. There is also fighting within the Church, along with the never ending consequences from the clerical child abuse scandals, and dropping attendance from the western countries.
At 10 AM on the dot (0800 GMT), St. Peters Basilica witnessed the start of a pre conclave Mass where “Princes of the Church” came together and shared the Eucharist led by the Cardinal’s Dean Giovanni Battista Re.
This will be the final rite to carry out publicly before the world gets to see the Church’s newly elected 267th Pope from the balcony of St. Peters Basilica a few days later.
Unlike the shortest election of popes which took only two days, is traditionally believed that the longest election, lasting three years, in 1268 to 1271, has taken one thousand and six days.
The assembly of clergy from roughly seventy nations marks the first conclave gathering on a global scale. The winning candidate must receive not less than eighty nine votes, which means that the votes will have to have two thirds majority for the votes.
Santa Marta guesthouse is turned into Santa Marta Vecchia which is normally occupied by Vatican administrators next door. The living quarters are reserved for clerics who are below 80 years of age and the cardinals are invited.
At exactly 3.45 pm, they are to head out from Santa Marta and at four and a half begin the prayers on the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace. They are to meet at 4:30.
As described by the vatican on the first Tuesday, it is cloistered in a very secret 15th century building, Sistine chapel.
Pledging an allegiance
Aumento expects to serve as a banner for them and with equal authority allowing them to go through with the task on which Alibertho Parolin will execute. All of this is done under a dome of the Michel Angelo’s Sistine chapel, Italian targeted par example over himself.
Frontrunners who previously worked as secretary of state under Francis, like Parolin, will lead the rest of the cardinals in chanting in Latin “Veni, Creator Spiritus”, an invocation of the holy spirit.
As is their custom, the cardinals sat down for several days of in-person discussions on the most pressing challenges that the Catholic Church faces, as well as the necessary qualities that a new prelate needs to possess.
Among the burning considerations are the Church’s adaptability to contemporary society, the dwindling number of priests, the participation of women, the financial problems of the Vatican, and the overall modern relevance of the Catholic Church.
Francis, known to be an impulsive, charismatic selfless advocate for the underprivileged, singlehandedly appointed about 80% of the other cardinals.
While the pre-conclave interviews suggest that some cardinals support the idea of a legacy protector for the post, others want a more conservative figure to defend the doctrine with slogans “protect and develop the legacy”.
From Pierbattista Pizzaballa, an Italian, to Malcolm Ranjith from Sri Lanka, and even Hungary’s Peter Erdo, more than a dozen names are being floated around.
Once the red-robed cardinals surrender their mobile phones, which is a form of surrendering to secrecy, we will never know how close the race for selection will turn out to be lo. They will take an oath to keep the conclave's secrets.
Before the master of liturgical ceremonies says “Extra omnes” (Greek for “everyone out”), each attendee promises to serv “faithfully” as Pope if chosen.
When the doors are closed, the cardinals cast their votes using ballots that read “Eligo in Summum Pontificem” which means “I elect as Supreme Pontiff.”
The cardinals would carry the folded ballots and place them on a silver plate designated for that purpose, and which is used for tipping these folded ballots into an urn placed on a table in front of Michelangelo’s Last Judgment.
Traditionally, each cardinal votes only once on the first evening whether a decision has been arrived at or not, and the votes are burned together with a substance that produces black smoke and white for a new pope.
Around the St Peters Square, hundreds of the faithful have gathered, with all their attention directed to the Sistine Chapel chimney with the expectation that news from the first vote will be out by about early evening Wednesday.
Comments