Catholic cardinals will meet on May 7 to start voting for a new Pope, the Vatican announced Monday, a week after the death of Pope Francis.
The so -called “church princes” under 80 years will meet in the Sistine Chapel to choose a new spiritual leader for the 1,400 million Catholics in the world.
The date was decided during a cardinal meeting of all ages early on Monday, two days after the funeral of Francis, who died on April 21 at the age of 88. The 252 Cardinals of the Church were summoned to Rome after the death of the Argentine, although only 135 are eligible to vote in the conceptions.
Cardinals come from all corners of the world, and many of them are not familiar with each other.
However, they have already held four meetings last week, known as “General Congregations”, where they began to familiarize themselves better.
Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, 83, former head of the Italian Bishop Conference, described the atmosphere as “beautiful and fraternal.”
“Of course, there may be some difficulties because voters have never been so numerous, and not everyone knows themselves,” said the newspaper Della Sera de Italy. On Monday, the Vatican closed the Sistine Chapel, where the vote will take place under the ceiling frescoes of the 16th century of Michelangelo, to begin the preparations.
Until now, there are few indications about who can choose the cardinals.
“I think that if Francis has been the Pope of surprises, this conclave will also be, since it is not predictable,” said Spanish cardinal José Cobo to El Pais in an interview published on Sunday.
Francis was buried on Saturday with a funeral and burial ceremony that attracted 400,000 people to the Plaza de San Pedro and beyond, including royalty, world leaders and common pilgrims.
On Sunday, approximately 70,000 mourners passed beyond their marble tomb in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, after the “Pope of the poor” chose to be buried outside the walls of the Vatican. Amid conflicts and diplomatic crises worldwide, Cardinal Italian Pietro Parolin, who served as Secretary of State, the second in command of the Pope, under Francisco, is considered by many as the favorite to happen.
The British betting houses William Hill placed it slightly ahead of the Filipino Luis Antonio Tagle, the Metropolitan Archbishop Emeritus of Manila, followed by Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana.
The next in his probabilities is Matteo Zuppi, the archbishop of Bologna; Guinea Cardinal Robert Sarah; and Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem.
While Francis's efforts to create a more compassionate church earned him a generalized affection and respect, some of his reforms angered the conservative wing of the Church, particularly in the United States and Africa. Roberto Regoli, professor of History and Culture of the Church at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, told AFP that the cardinals would seek “someone who knows how to forge a greater unity.”
“We are in a period in which Catholicism is experiencing several polarizations, so I can't imagine it is a very, very fast conclave,” he said.
Bassetti, who is too old to participate, expressed his belief that “it will not be long.”
Francis designated approximately 80 percent of cardinal voters, although this does not guarantee that they select a successor in their similarity.
Most are relatively young, and for many, this will be their first conclave. The vote is highly secret and adheres to strict rules and ceremonial procedures. The process could take several days or potentially longer.
There are four votes per day, two in the morning and two in the afternoon, until a candidate ensures a two -thirds majority.
Less than half of the eligible vote are European.
“The future Pope must have a universal heart, love all continents. We must not look at the color, the origin, but in what is proposed,” said Cardinal Dieudonne Nzapalainga of the Central African Republic to the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero.
“We need a brave, bold leader, capable of speaking hard, to keep the rudder of the stable church even in storms … offering stability in an era of great uncertainty.”
Patrizia Spotti, a 68 -year -old Italian who visits Rome for the Holy Year of Jubilee 2026, said Monday that he hoped that the new Pontiff “be a Pope like Francis.”
It is a challenging moment for Catholicism, he said.
“The churches are empty. And the Church itself has made mistakes, all scandals with children,” he said, referring to the generalized revelations of clerical sexual abuse.
AFP
Also read of Nigerian tribe