Several people said the Catholic Cardinal entered a conference on Wednesday to a new pope, and it was unclear who would be the successor to Pope Francis, and said the speech of the individual pastor at the conference this week could be decisive.
133 cardinals were held near the daily meeting to discuss the problems faced by the establishment of a 1.4 billion member Catholic church before the meeting, when they would be quarantined in hotels and prohibited from contacting the outside world.
Although some cardinals are seen as the leader in the succession of Pope Francis – two often mentioned are Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, many pastors who will vote are not determined.
“My list is changing and I think it will continue to change over the next few days,” Vincent Nichols, the British Cardinal who attended his first meeting, told Reuters. “For me, it’s a process that is far from the conclusion, far from the end.”
When the Cardinal meets this week in the so-called “congregation in general,” individual pastors can provide speeches to give them a vision for the future of global faith.
It was during this period during the 2013 conference that Argentina Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio delivered a speech, and in many cases, his peers impressed him. A few days later, he was elected Francis.
Get the daily national news
Get news, politics, economics and current events titles delivered to your inbox every day.
Nichols, the highest church official in England and Wales, said the speech once again became an opinion on who could become the next pope.
The Cardinal said, “There will be these moments like stones falling into the pond and the ripples will go out and I will sit there and think, ‘Ah, yes, that’s important.”
When asked if there are some basic leaders who are more likely to be pope, Nichols replied: “I came up with some ideas… () They have changed.”
Cardinal William Goh Seng Chye of the Archbishop of Singapore told Il Messaggero newspaper that he also didn't know who the next pope might be. “It seems strange, but we really don't know,” he said. “We haven't started voting yet, so we don't know. The game is still going on.”
Comparison of dinner notes
The Cardinal will call the meeting twice before Monday, and is expected to be held at least once on Tuesday.
The conclusion itself began Wednesday morning, celebrating a special mass at St. Peter's Basilica.
In the afternoon, the Cardinals will formally process the Sistine Church, a 15th-century worship space decorated with frescoes by Michelangelo, who will begin to vote for the next Pope.
They are expected to make a vote Wednesday afternoon. There will be two tickets every morning and afternoon on the following days. The majority of the elected person is required.
According to the conclusion regulations, if no one chooses anyone after the first three days, the Cardinal should make a “prayer” for a day before continuing.
The only signal about the deliberation will come from the chimney installed above the church. The Cardinals will burn their votes, adding chemical products to produce one of two colors of smoke: black to make a definite vote; there is a new pope when white.
Italian Cardinal Fernando Filoni, a former Vatican official who attended his second meeting, told the Corriere Della Sera newspaper that he hoped the first vote would be indecisive.
“The first two votes are for positioning, and then we start to summarize the matter,” he said.
Filoni said the Cardinal was quarantined from the world and it was also important to live and eat together at the Santa Mata Hotel in the Vatican.
“When we vote, we don't talk, but then we eat together, live together and compare notes.”
