Cardinals attend a final Mass St. Peter’s Basilica, before the conclave to elect a new pope, at the Vatican, Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
VATICAN CITY – With all the pomp, drama and solemnity that the Catholic Church can muster, 133 cardinals on Wednesday began the secretive, centuries-old ritual to elect a successor to Pope Francis, opening the most geographically diverse conclave in the faith’s 2,000-year history.
Two by two, the cardinals entered the Sistine Chapel chanting the meditative “Litany of the Saints” as Swiss Guards stood at attention. The hymn implores the saints to help the cardinals find a new leader of the 1.4 billion-strong Catholic Church.
They bowed before the altar and took their places before taking an oath of secrecy and shutting the Sistine Chapel doors to start the conclave.
Earlier in the day, the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, presided over a morning Mass 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.
Hailing from 70 countries, the cardinals have been 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.
The cardinals don’t have to take a first vote on Wednesday, but they are expected to. 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 much of the past century, it has taken between three and 14 ballots to find a pope. John Paul I — the pope who reigned for 33 days in 1978 — was elected on the fourth ballot. His successor, John Paul II, needed eight. Francis was elected on the fifth in 2013.
