Source : NEW INDIAN EXPRESS NEWS
Earlier in the day, the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, presided over a morning Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica urging the voters to set aside all personal interests and find a pope who prizes unity. He prayed for a pope who could awaken the conscience of the world.
He reminded the cardinals that the awesomeness of the Sistine Chapel’s frescoes is meant to remind the cardinals of the weighty responsibility they bear. In his regulations for the conclave, Re recalled, St. John Paul II wrote that in the Sistine Chapel, “everything is conducive to an awareness of the presence of God.”
After the cardinals took their oaths, the master of papal liturgical ceremonies, Archbishop Diego Ravelli, called out “extra omnes,” Latin for “all out” and anyone not eligible to vote left before the chapel doors closed. An elderly cardinal remained to deliver a meditation, but after he finished, he too, had to leave since he was too old to vote.
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.
Lobbying before the conclave
The cardinals are supposed to resist any “secular” influences in their choice of pope, but 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 sent pink smoke signals Wednesday over the Vatican to demand that women be allowed to be priests and participate in a conclave.
Even the White House got involved, posting a photo of President Donald Trump dressed as a pope. Trump said it was a joke, but the gesture was denounced by former Italian Premier Romano Prodi as “indecent” political interference in matters of faith that hark back to times when secular rulers intervened in conclaves.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, said there was also plenty of lobbying going on among cardinals themselves.
“You invite each other out,” Dolan said on SiriusXM’s The Catholic Channel before the conclave began. “And you’re pretty blunt. Now, we’re not, you know, we’re not horse trading here. We’re saying, ‘Tell me about this guy. You’re from Latin America. Go through the list of bishops. Tell me some of these fellas. Am I right to be enchanted by this guy?’”
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.
SOURCE :- NEW INDIAN EXPRESS
