CARDINALS BEGIN SECRET CONCLAVE TO ELECT NEXT POPE
Cardinals from across the globe gathered in solemn ceremony on Wednesday May 7th inside St. Peter’s Basilica before secluding themselves in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace to begin the secretive and ancient process of selecting the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church. The death of Pope Francis last month, following a 12-year papacy that saw significant reform efforts and doctrinal tensions, has now thrust the global Church into one of its most consequential transitions in recent memory.
The pre-conclave mass at St. Peter’s marked the final public liturgical event before the world’s 267th pope is revealed. Following tradition, the cardinals proceeded in silence to the Sistine Chapel, chanting the haunting “Litany of the Saints” and the hymn “Veni Creator Spiritus,” invoking divine guidance for their sacred task.
This year’s conclave is the largest in Church history, with 133 cardinal electors representing nearly 70 nations and a broad spectrum of ecclesiastical ideologies. A two-thirds majority—at least 89 votes—is required to select the new pontiff. While recent conclaves that elected both Benedict XVI and Francis were decided within two days, the length of this process remains uncertain, especially given the wide ideological and geographical diversity of the participants.
No obvious frontrunner has emerged. The cardinals, now sealed within the Sistine Chapel under a cloud of both ritual and technology-imposed silence, are deliberating between candidates aligned with Francis’ pastoral outreach and those favoring a return to more conservative theological orthodoxy. Black smoke is expected from the chapel’s chimney later Wednesday if the first ballot fails to produce a new pope. Voting will continue with up to four ballots per day until white smoke signals a successful election.
