Behind the scenes of Conclave: as a discreet American and silent became the new Pope

Vatican City – The cardinals who elected a new Pope to lead the Catholic Church left the exhausted and hungry Sistine Chapel.

A meditation to start the conclave dragged on and delayed its first vote by the end of Wednesday night (7). The result was an inconclusive count, with three main competitors. Keeping their vote of confidentiality, they returned to House Santa Marta, the guest house where they were kidnapped without their phones, and began talking.

During dinner, while a celiac cardinal examined the options of vegetables and others stared at simple food, they pondered their choices. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, 70, the Italian who managed the Vatican under Pope Francis, entered the conclave as a favorite but did not receive overwhelming support during the vote. The Italians were divided, and some of the cardinals in the room were bothered by their failure to emphasize the collaborative meetings that Francisco prioritized to govern the church.

Hungary Cardinal Peter Erddo, 72, supported by a conservative coalition that included some African supporters, had no way to gain impetus in a widely named electorate.

This left Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, 69, a discreet American who surprisingly emerged in the night vote as a source of particular interest.

A missionary who became the leader of a religious order, then Peruvian bishop and, finally, a player With Vatican power, he met many of the requirements that a wide range of cardinals expected. Its apparent capacity to be two places at the same time – North America and South America – pleased cardinals on two continents. As the prelates probed the Latin American cardinals who knew him well, they liked what they heard.

During dinner, Prevost avoided any obvious politics or machines, the cardinals said. The next morning, he became an unexpected favorite who ultimately left little room for rival candidates and ideological fields.

“You start to see where you are going and say, ‘Oh, my God, I won’t need to wear the clothes you brought to five days,” joked cardinal Pablo Virgilio Siongco David, from the Philippines. “This will be resolved very fast.”

Interviews with more than a dozen cardinals, who were able to disclose only what was allowed by the rules of confidentiality that lead to the penalty of excommunication, and reports of insiders From the Vatican they told the story of how PREVOST became Pope Leo XIV. The quick, surprising consensus that broke taboos around an unknown American for many outside the church emerged on Thursday among a difficult to handle cardinal college, with many new members who did not know each other. They had different interests, languages ​​and priorities, but a single choice.

Building Support

After Francis’ death on April 21, cardinals from around the world began to arrive in Rome. They joined powerful players In the Vatican who administered the church bureaucracy, including PREVOST, whose career Francis had driven.

Despite his intimate understanding of the Vatican, Prevost was still among the newcomers, having been cardinal for less than two years. And he had questions about the conclave.

He turned to one of the supposed favorites, Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle, from the Philippines, for help.

“” How does this work? “Said the American, according to Tagle, who reported the conversation. “I had experience in a conclave,” said Tagle, “and not.”

Unlike Tagle, he was also not considered to be necessary in an election between so many new cardinals who barely knew each other. Without being very popular or with an obvious support base, the forming of the Villanova University, born in Chicago, acted below the radar.

“I didn’t even know his name,” David said of the Philippines.

But PREVOST was not a complete unknown. As a former leader of the Order of St. Augustine, who operates around the world, and as head of the Vatican office that supervises the bishops of the world, he had developed powerful connections and supporters. The first among them was Francisco, who made his career take off. And his decades in Peru, Spanish fluency and leadership of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America gave him deep and decisive relationships on the continent.

“Almost all of us know him. He is one of us,” said Cardinal Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo of Venezuela, who has known him for decades.

In the weeks preceding the conclave, the cardinals participated in a series of private meetings to discuss their concerns about the future of the church. Unlike Francis, who left his mark with a brief speech sharing his vision to the church, several cardinals said that Prevost’s observations did not stand out. “Like all the others,” said Cardinal Juan José Omella Omella, from Spain.

Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco of France, Archbishop of Algiers, could not remember what the American had said, but had the opportunity to talk to him on the sidelines-which was important, he was being increasingly commented as a candidate based on his “incredible”, fluency in Italian, reputation as moderate and connection with Francis. The cardinal began to ask people who had worked with the American to evaluate him and learned that he heard and worked well in groups. “I did my job,” Vesco said. “I have to vote. I have to know the person.”

Cardinal Wilton Gregory of the United States also said that Prevost involved “quite effectively” in discussions in smaller groups with cardinals.

These more intimate environments played in favor of Prevost, as he earned a reputation in Rome as a studious, collegiate and organized collaborator, especially as head of an important Vatican department.

On Saturday, May 3, five days before the conclave, the cardinals raffled and attributed key papers. With 127 of the 133 who ended up voting gifts, Predost was chosen to help conduct daily meetings before they were kidnapped and the vote began.

As the different factions discussed in these daily meetings about the future direction of the Church, the Cardinals of the Americas seemed to come together around him.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, a frank and sociable figure, said he tried to get to know his American colleague better during a breakfast.

Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller of Germany observed an electoral base that seemed to be forming, saying, “It’s a good number of Cardinals from South America, North America.”

Put from Venezuela said the Cardinals of Latin America and the United States seemed to be on the same page about Prevost. “When you have friendship first,” he said, “everything is easier.”

The more the cardinals learned about Prevost, the more they liked him, the cardinals said. “Bob, that could be proposed to you,” said New Jersey’s Cardinal Joseph Tobin, who said he told Predivost just before the conclave began.

PREVOST had a lot of the experience they were looking for, Cardinal Vincent Nichols of England said. He had the heart of a missionary, academic depth and knowledge of the world. He had managed a diocese as a bishop, which put him in close contact with the parishioners, but had also worked in Curia, the Roman bureaucracy that helps to govern the church.

It did not go unnoticed by the cardinals, said Nichols, that Parolin, the Vatican’s main diplomat, who was being pressured by his supporters inside and outside the conclave, had a deep experience only in the bureaucracy of the church.

“We are not stupid,” he said.

Luck changing fast

On Wednesday, after a long and solemn procession in the Sistine Chapel, the cardinals gathered in their designated seats and made their votes. Shortly before 6 pm, the doors closed to the beginning of the conclave.

The initial meditation, observations about the severity of the task in hand, lasted about an hour, so much so that Parolin, who was conducting the conclave, asked if they wanted to end the night and postpone the first vote until the next morning.

“We didn’t have dinner, and there were no intervals – not even to the bathroom,” said David from the Philippines, but the group decided he wanted to vote.

When the vote began around 7:30 pm, the delay, without explanation to the outside world, caused a stir among the crowds waiting. It looked like the cardinals had already chosen a pope who was wearing to go out at the counter.

Instead, the first vote of that night was what Omella, from Spain, called “some preliminary research.”

“In the first vote, there were several candidates who gained significant votes,” said Cardinal Lazarus You Heung-Sik of South Korea, according to the South Korean news agency Yonhap. Vatican sources said these candidates included Parolin, Eddo and PREVOST.

It was then that the cardinals returned to the guest’s house and began discussing the strengths and weaknesses of men.

“Once we are in Santa Marta, there has been talk about individual candidates,” said Nichols of England. “That’s what we should do.”

The next morning votes – the second and third of the conclave – made the situation clear.

“In the fourth vote, the votes changed crushedly,” South Korea said You, you.

During one of the votes, Tobin, while holding his high vote and put him in the ballot box, turned and saw Predost, which he had known for about 30 years.

“I looked at Bob,” said Tobin of New Jersey, “and he had his head in his hands.”

Later, in the afternoon, they voted again and told the votes one by one. When PREVOST reached 89 votes, the two -thirds limit needed to become a Papa, the room erupted in a foot ovation. “And he remained sitting!” said David. “Someone had to pull him up. We were all with tears in their eyes.”

As the count continued and the votes for PREVOST approached three digits, Parolin had to ask them to feel so they could finish.

“He got a very, very large majority of votes,” said Cardinal Désiré Tsarahazana of Madagascar.

After his election, the cardinals enthusiastically congratulated the new Pope. A short, uncontentious conclave came to an end and Leo XIV left the Carmesim curtains to the Basilica of St. Peter’s counter and the world stage.

Tagle, the old favorite who had been questioned by the American, said to him, “If there’s something you want to change in the rules of the conclave – now everything is in your hands. ‘

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