A first vote is scheduled for the afternoon, but the white smoke that precedes ‘Habemus Papam’ is not expected today
To the Latin cry of “Extra Omnnes”-all outside-the cardinals were locked on Wednesday (7) to elect the successor of in an uncertain conclave and without clear favorites. The 133 “Church Princes” are isolated from the world, without internet access, telephones, television or press, until they elevate a new pontiff. A first vote is scheduled for the afternoon, but the white smoke that precedes the “Habemus Papam” is not expected today. The eyes of the world will be fixed on the small chimney that will issue the results of smoke -shaped votes. In St. Peter’s Square, thousands of tourists and faithful were already taking pictures of the small and almost indistinguishable copper tube.
“We came to see smoke,” Gabriela Sanz, a 48 -year -old tourist from Mar del Plata, Argentina, told AFP. “We already had an Argentine pope that was something unique in history.” “And now it would be exciting to see a smoke. It doesn’t matter if it’s not white,” he added.
“Divine disposition”
When the master of the liturgical celebrations of the High Pontiff, Monsignor Diego Ravelli, closed the doors, applause were heard in St. Peter’s Square. The cardinals previously swore to keep secret about the process and “faithfully” the role of pontiff if elected by “divine disposition”. Wearing the red costume, which honors the blood of Christ, they first recited the oath together and then individually before the altar with their hand on the gospel.
The Italian Pietro Parolin, the oldest Voter Cardinal according to the order of precedence, led the cardinals in the Latin invocation of Espírito Santo: “Veni, Creator Spiritus”. The election will probably require more negotiations and various votes in the Sistine Chapel, furnished with several rows of tables covered with brown and red towels, in which the names of each voter appear.
Faced with the magnificent frescoes of the final judgment, the cardinals will vote “in the presence of God” in solemn silence. Each cardinal writes his candidate’s name, doubles the ballot and puts it on a silver plate, which is used to deposit it in a ballot box located in front of the final judgment. Banknotes are burned in a greenhouse with the help of chemicals: if the two thirds are not reached, the smoke will be black; If there is Pope, the smoke will be white.
“Bergoglists” against conservatives
If on Wednesday no one has the two-thirds most required-at least 89 votes-to proclaim the 267th Pontiff, the cardinals will vote four times from Thursday: two in the morning and two in the afternoon. The dean of the Cardinal College, Giovanni Battista Re, asked in a mass before the conclave for the “maintenance of the unity of the church” in the face of the “difficult, complex and turbulent” moment that the future spiritual leader of 1.4 billion Catholics will face.
The Sistine Chapel will not be a space for speeches, debates and negotiations that lead to a consensus name among the “Bergogolists”, devotees by Jorge Bergoglio, and the most conservative wing that greatly criticized his pontificate reformist aimed at the poorest. Conversations will take place during meals or meetings at Santa Marta’s residence and other Vatican quarters, where cardinals will remain isolated. The elections of Benedict XVI and Francisco took two days. Most cardinals believe that the current conclave should last a maximum of three, while the pessimists believe in five days of voting.
Participants swear to keep the details of the whole process confidential. Francisco created 80% of the cardinals who participate in the conclave, the largest and most international in history, with prelates from 70 countries. Parolin is among the favorites to succeed Francis, from whom he was secretary of state for 12 years. The Il Messaggero newspaper also includes among the “papable galaxy” Italian Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Hungarian Peter Erddo, Cingal Malcolm Ranjith and Spanish Ángel Fernández Artime.
See the moment of closing the doors
*With information from AFP
Posted by Fernando Dias
