VATICAN CITY — On Wednesday afternoon, red-hatted clerics who carry the same weight and dignity as princes within the Catholic Church entered the Sistine Chapel for the papal conclave to choose Pope Francis‘s successor.
The 133 cardinals will remain in total seclusion within the chapel and its adjoining buildings until they choose from among themselves the next bishop of Rome, the servant of the servants of God and Vicar of Christ on Earth.
As the clock struck 4:30 p.m. in Rome, the screens in St Peter’s Square came to life, and the booming Latin remarks of Cardinal Pietro Parolin rang out through Vatican City.
They filed two by two into the chapel as they chanted, invoking the names of dozens of apostles, martyrs, and other servants of God throughout time. “Ora pro nobis” was the response to each name — “Pray for us.”
Onlookers stood in awe as the video feed followed the cardinals from the Pauline Chapel to the Sistine Chapel. All the way, they sang the Litany of the Saints — invoking God to have mercy on them and the saints to pray for their souls.
The road to this moment has been winding. Initial hopes that a clear candidate would emerge prior to the period of seclusion were all but dashed after members reported infighting and disagreements on the direction the Church needs to take.
Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin remains the top contender, but he — along with other papabile such as Cardinal Luis Tagle of the Philippines and Cardinal Peter Erdo of Hungary — reportedly hit a ceiling early quite short of the 89 votes necessary to secure the papal tiara.
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The media will suffer a less severe yet frustrating black-out. Cellphone signals in Vatican City are being jammed to ensure the cardinals’ physical isolation is complemented by a digital exile.
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Winning over a handful, dozen, or even two dozen supporters within the College is difficult enough. Potential popes do not campaign for the position. In the Catholic hierarchy, ambition is unbecoming. At the highest levels of leadership, it’s considered outright dangerous.
Instead, senior cardinals often generate informal voting blocs with support from allies. These blocs subtlety or aggressively push individuals they see as in line with their hopes for the Church’s future direction.
But candidates must be vetted thoroughly before being pushed. Once a cardinal becomes pope, he answers to no one. The Holy See wields absolute, unimpeachable power over the Church and Vatican City.
A pope is also scrutinized by the public like no other leader on earth. It is a fact of modern life that presidential mistresses, prime ministers’ shady pasts in banking, and compromising photos of royalty might cause scandal but are not necessarily undermining of the office.
But the Catholic Church is not a part of modern life. Murmurs of immorality or scandal in the Vatican carry much more weight — enough to chip away at the ancient institution’s moral credibility.
Cardinals will be able to further discuss the election and candidates during the conclave — between votes, during meals, on their own time. These conversations could produce new candidates or carve paths for papabile thought to have hit a wall.
As preferred candidates begin to show an inability to reach two-thirds, alternatives are considered and compromises attempted.
Earlier Wednesday, St. Peter’s Square was bustling despite the gray clouds trickling occasional raindrops over Vatican City. Massive television screens were placed under statues of Sts. Peter and Paul. More displays extend down the Via della Conciliazione. Thousands will use these screens to monitor the impending papal conclave, standing too far from St. Peter’s Basilica to see the chimney smoke or new pontiff appear. If the smoke is white, a new pope has been decided.