D-day at the Vatican: the cardinals responsible for electing the pope lock from Wednesday afternoon in the Sistine Chapel for a historic conclave responsible for designating, in the greatest secrecy, the successor of François.
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More than two weeks after the death of Jorge Bergoglio, the 133 cardinals voters from 70 countries – a record – will launch this extremely codified ceremonial and followed with attention by some 1.4 billion Catholics, via media around the world.
Prelude to this ancestral ritual, the cardinals will participate at 10 a.m. (local time) in a solemn mass in the Saint-Pierre basilica, chaired by the dean of the Cardinalice college, the Italian Giovanni Battista Re.
The afternoon will follow a prayer in the Pauline chapel, which adjoins the Sistine, at 4:30 p.m. (local time).
AFP
The countdown will really start around 5 p.m. (local time), with the entry into procession of cardinals in a sixtine chapel with drastic isolation: no mobile phone will be authorized, and the telecommunications networks will be cut between the walls of the Vatican City.
Having taken an oath not to reveal anything about exchanges – under penalty of excommunication – they will then lock themselves in front of the majestic, but also intimidating fresco of the last judgment of Michelangelo.
A video broadcast Tuesday by the Vatican makes it possible to measure the solemnity of the frame: double row of tables covered with heavy fabric, needle to unravel the bulletins, nominative places indicated by a bridge and red flap sub-maits struck by the weapons of the Holy See.
Massive interest
Wednesday evening will take place a first vote, the result of which will probably not be known before 7 p.m. (local time). This first round allowing to gauge the forces present, it is unlikely that the majority of two thirds, that is to say 89 votes, is already reached.
The election should continue on Thursday, with two laps scheduled during the morning session and two others in the afternoon.
The world will have its eyes riveted on the thin metal fireplace fixed on the roof of the Sistine Chapel which will release, at the end of each session, its announcing smoke: black in the absence of choice, and white if the pope is elected.
- AFP
Covered by some 5,000 journalists, this conclave arouses a massive interest in the world, far beyond the religious spheres, like the millions of euros in Paris on the identity of the next Pope, the success of online games or records of the film “Conclave”, released in 2024.
Who, among the 133 cardinals, will appear dressed in white on the Balcony of the Saint-Pierre Basilica?
From Italians Pietro Parolin and Pierbattista Pizzaballa to Maltais Mario Grech via the Archbishop of Marseille, the Frenchman Jean-Marc Aveline, or the Philippin Luis Antonio Tagle, several names have emerged among the “papabili”, considered as favorites.
“I think he must represent all the continents where Catholicism is present,” Enzo Orsingher, a 78 -year -old Roman retired, told AFP on Tuesday.
“Cleavage”
“A pope who is in favor of abortion is unthinkable”, but “I find it very positive that the pope goes to visit the prisoners in prison (…). You have to stay close to those who suffer ”.
But this conclave promises to be particularly open with an unprecedented representation of the “peripheries” dear to Pope Francis, who appointed 81% of cardinals voters. Fifteen countries are thus represented for the first time, including Haiti, Cape Verde and South Sudan.
“There is undoubtedly an opposition both cultural, and almost political resentment, of certain southern churches towards Westerners and in particular Europeans,” said François Mabille, director of the geopolitical observatory of the religious.
AFP
There is also, according to him, “a cleavage that we have seen throughout the pontificate of François” between “those who believe that the doctrine must be constantly recalling, and the more pastoral profiles, in a logic of accompaniment” of the faithful.
To get to know each other and confront their points of view on the challenges of the Church, the cardinals have held in recent days 12 “general congregations” allowing to draw the profile of the next Pope.
But in this very open election, the geopolitical context could also weigh, between the rise of populisms, return from Donald Trump to the White House and hardening of war between Israel and Hamas.
“We can quite imagine that the cardinals sensitive to the international context that we have known since Trump’s return are said that we need an experienced person at the head of the Catholic Church, and in particular someone who knows international relations perfectly,” adds François Mabille.
