Cardinals from five continents on Wednesday held a final mass in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican before sealing themselves away to elect a new pope to lead the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
DAILY POST reports that a total of 133 cardinal electors are expected to take part in the conclave, the voting process to pick a successor to Pope Francis, who died last month after a 12-year papacy at the age of 88 years.
At the moment, no clear frontrunner has emerged from among the prelates, representing a range of progressive and conservative traditions within the Church, and the contest to lead the 2,000-year-old institution appears wide open.
The “Princes of the Church”; were said to have begun a pre-conclave mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at 10:00 a.m. (0800 GMT), presided over by the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Giovanni Battista Re.
The mass was the last rite to be celebrated publicly before the Church’s 267th pope is presented to the world from a balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, likely several days later.
Both Francis and his predecessor, Benedict XVI, were elected within two days, but the longest papal election in Church history lasted 1,006 days, from 1268 to 1271.
DAILY POST reports that with clerics from around 70 countries, this conclave is the largest ever, and the next pontiff will have to secure at least 89 votes, a two-thirds majority.
The cardinals, who must be younger than 80 to take part, are staying at the Vatican’s Santa Marta guesthouse, where Francis used to live, and Santa Marta Vecchia, a building next door usually housing Vatican officials.
At 3:45 p.m., they will set off from Santa Marta to gather at the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace, where a prayer will be held from 4:30 p.m.
