Cardinals enter Sistine Chapel to start centuries-old secret ritual to elect a new pope

VATICAN CITY AP With all the pomp drama and solemnity that the Catholic Church can muster cardinals on Wednesday began the secretive centuries-old ritual to elect a successor to Pope Francis opening the the greater part geographically diverse conclave in the faith s -year history Two by two the cardinals entered the Sistine Chapel chanting the meditative Litany of the Saints as Swiss Guards stood at attention The hymn implores the saints to help the cardinals find a new leader of the billion-strong Catholic Church They bowed before the altar and took their places before taking an oath of secrecy and shutting the Sistine Chapel doors to start the conclave Earlier in the day the dean of the College of Cardinals Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re presided over a morning Mass urging the voters to set aside all personal interests and find a pope who prizes unity The world the present day demands a leader who can awaken consciences he reported Hailing from countries the cardinals have been sequestered from the outside world their cellphones surrendered and airwaves around the Vatican jammed to prevent all communications until they find a new leader for the billion-member church Francis named of the princes of the church choosing various pastors in his image from far-flung countries like Mongolia Sweden and Tonga that had never had a cardinal before His decision to surpass the usual limit of cardinal electors and include younger ones from the global south often marginalized countries with lower economic clout has injected an exceptional degree of uncertainty in a process that is unfailingly full of mystery and suspense with smoke signals telling the world if a pope has been elected or not Multiple cardinals hadn t met one another until last week and lamented they needed more time to get to know each another raising questions about how long it might take for one man to secure the two-thirds majority or ballots necessary to become the th pope Wait and see a little patience wait and see explained Cardinal Mario Zenari the Vatican s ambassador to Syria A final Mass then All out The cardinals began the day by participating in the Mass in St Peter s Basilica attended by Vatican personnel and the inhabitants as pilgrims outside braved brief rain showers to watch the proceedings on giant TV screens The -year-old dean of the college Re prayed for cardinals to find the wisdom counsel and understanding to elect a worthy new shepherd Wearing bright red vestments the cardinals processed down the central aisle of the basilica as the Sistine Chapel s boys choir sang They took up their seats around the main altar which lies above the traditional burial place of St Peter considered to be the first pope Re had presided at Francis funeral delivering a heartfelt sermon on the reforming -year papacy overseen by Francis history s first Latin American pope At p m GMT a m EDT sharp the cardinals entered the Sistine Chapel Standing before Michelangelo s vision of heaven and hell in The Last Judgment each cardinal was to place his hand on the Gospel and swears to carry out that duty The awesomeness of the chapel s frescoes and Michelangelo s in particular is meant to remind the cardinals of the weighty responsibility they bear In his regulations for the conclave St John Paul II wrote that in the Sistine Chapel everything is conducive to an awareness of the presence of God After the cardinals take their oaths a senior cardinal delivers a meditation The master of papal liturgical ceremonies Archbishop Diego Ravelli calls out Extra omnes Latin for all out Anyone not eligible to vote then leaves and the chapel doors close allowing the work to begin The cardinals don t have to take a first vote on Wednesday but they are expected to Assuming no winner is identified the Vatican commented black smoke could be expected out of the Sistine Chapel chimney at around p m The cardinals retire for the night and return Thursday morning They can hold up to two ballots in the morning and two in the afternoon until a winner is located While cardinals this week stated they expected a short conclave it will likely take at least a sparse rounds of voting For much of the past century it has taken between three and ballots to find a pope John Paul I the pope who reigned for days in was elected on the fourth ballot His successor John Paul II needed eight Francis was elected on the fifth in Lobbying before the conclave While the cardinals are supposed to resist any secular influences in their choice such lobbying abounded in Rome in the days before the conclave as various groups reminded cardinals of what ordinary Catholics want in a leader Young Catholics penned an open letter reminding cardinals that there is no church without young people women and the laity Conservative Catholic media slipped cardinals copies of a glossy book containing their assessments of contenders Survivors of clergy sexual abuse warned cardinals that they would be held accountable if they failed to find a leader who will crack down on decades of abuse and cover-up Advocates for women s ordination sent pink smoke signals over the Vatican to demand that women be allowed to be priests and participate in a conclave Even the White House got involved posting a photo of President Donald Trump dressed as a pope Trump revealed it was a joke but the gesture was denounced by former Italian Premier Romano Prodi as indecent political interference in matters of faith that harked back to times when secular rulers habitually wielded religion to stay in power Lisette Herrera a -year-old tourist from the Dominican Republic was deeply moved to find herself by chance in Rome as the conclave began She decided Wednesday morning to skip the Spanish Procedures and Trevi Fountain and pray instead in St Peter s Square I m praying to the Holy Spirit for a young pope who would stay with us for a long time she explained I don t believe in conclave politics I just feel that the Holy Spirit is here and that s all we need to know Armando Statti a pilgrim from Crotone Italy commented he expected cardinals would settle on a pope in the image of Francis or John Paul II We hope he will be communicated as soon as doable for the sake of the whole world and for peace and that he will embrace everyone he reported Challenges facing a new pope A multitude of challenges face the new pope and weigh on the cardinals above all whether to continue and consolidate Francis progressive legacy on promoting women LGBTQ acceptance the atmosphere and asylum seekers or roll it back to try to unify a church that became more polarized during his pontificate The clergy sex abuse disgrace hung over the pre-conclave talks Since Francis chose of the voters continuity is likely but the form it might take is uncertain and identifying front-runners has been a challenge But particular names keep appearing on lists of papabile or cardinals having the qualities to be pope Cardinal Pietro Parolin an Italian who was Francis secretary of state and the Vatican No is a leading contender Filipino Cardinal Luis Tagle is a top candidate to be history s first Asian pope He had a similarly high-profile job heading the Vatican s evangelization office responsible for the Catholic Church in much of the growing world Hungarian Cardinal Peter Erdo the archbishop of Budapest is a leading candidate representing the more conservative wing of the church For AP s full coverage of the conclave visit https apnews com hub papal-conclave AP reporters Giada Zampano and Vanessa Gera contributed Associated Press religion coverage receives patronage through the AP s collaboration with The Conversation US with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc The AP is solely responsible for this content Source