Catholic awaits new pope as Cardinals commence voting

Following the death and burial of Pope Francis, Catholic cardinals from all over the world have started casting their votes for a new pope under Michelangelo’s The Last Judgment fresco in the Sistine Chapel.

The ongoing conclave is described as the largest and possibly most unpredictable one to ever take place with 133 diverse participants.

The 133 cardinals with the power to vote have been getting to know one another and sharing visions for the future of the church during daily pre-conclave meetings since 28 April, the guardian reports.

However, the challenge of the task in hand appeared to be summed up by Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo, the archbishop of Jakarta, who was the last cardinal to arrive in Rome and was playing catch-up on Monday. “There’s a lot of confusion,” he told journalists after hearing addresses from 50 cardinals. “We have heard many voices, it’s not easy to draw conclusions.”

The cardinals met for a final time on Tuesday morning before moving into their lodgings in Casa Santa Marta, where they have been required to hand over their mobile phones and remain sequestered from the outside world until a new pope is chosen, only venturing outside for the bus ride between the guesthouse and the Sistine Chapel. The cardinals swear an oath to secrecy, as do all Vatican staff assisting them, from cooks and cleaners to drivers and medics.

There are two rounds of votes each day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Smoke is emitted from the chimney installed atop the Sistine Chapel at the end of each voting session – if it is black, it means the vote has yielded no decision, if it is white then a new pope has been chosen. If the election drags on, the cardinals will take a day off for reflection after three full days of voting.

Speculation over who will succeed Francis was rife even before his death, and with each passing day a new papabile, or papacy candidate, is added to the speculative list of more than 20 potential popes.

One thing the cardinals seemed to agree on in the run-up to the conclave was the need for a new pope to be capable of “being a bridge and a guide for a disorientated humanity marked by the crisis of the world order” while reaffirming their commitment to “support the new pope”, a Vatican official said during a press briefing on Monday.

“These men of faith are entering [the conclave] believing that God has already chosen the next pope,” said Andrea Vreede, the Vatican correspondent for NOS, the Dutch public radio and TV network. “Now they have to figure out what that choice is. It is unpredictable because there are many new electors who do not know each other very well, because Francis never organised cardinal meetings, so they were never invited to assist or advise the pope. So the one thing they can agree on, whether they are far left or far right, is that they all want more involvement in the government of the next pope.”

Another thing they all seem to agree on is that the conclave must be kept short, perhaps lasting no more than three to four days.

“The main job for the new pope will be unifying the church. This is always a job for any pontiff but it will be especially critical for the next pope. Yes, he will have to handle evangelisation but also issues like the abuse cases. We need to have a pope who is not afraid to fight against this issue,” said Severina Bartonitschek, the Vatican correspondent for KNA, a Catholic news agency in Germany.

Frontrunners in the papal conclave

Name Age Country of Birth Continent
Fridolin Ambongo Besungu 65 DRC Africa
Peter Erdo 72 Hungary Europe
Mario Grech 68 Malta Europe
José Tolentino de Mendonça 59 Portugal Europe
Pietro Parolin 70 Italy Europe
Pierbattista Pizzaballa 60 Italy Europe
Robert Sarah 79 Guinea Africa
Luis Antonio Tagle 67 Philippines Asia
Peter Turkson 76 Ghana Africa
Matteo Zuppi 69 Italy Europe

Data source: Guardian research