The cardinals choosing the next pope should select the best suited person to direct the church through a “difficult and complex period,” said a senior Vatican official.
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, who is the dean of the Cardinals College, comments while leading morning mass in the Saint-Pierre basilica on Wednesday, a few hours before the start of the conclave.
The 91 -year -old re, who cannot vote in the papal elections because he is over 80 years old, urged his peers to put aside their personal interests to find a leader who can arouse the conscience of people and unify the Church.
“This is a strong call to maintain the unity of the church … A unit that does not mean uniformity, but a firm and deep communion in diversity,” said Re, who led the funeral of Pope Francis last month.
Wednesday in the middle of the afternoon, 133 cardinals had locked themselves in the Sistine Chapel. They will not have contact with the outside world before finding a new leader for the flock of $ 1.4 billion in the church.
Since the death of the late Pope Francis on Easter Monday, speculations have increased to know who could be chosen as a successor.
Potential contenders include Pietro Parolin, Luis Antonio Tagle, Fridolin Ambongongo Besungu and fart Erdő.
Parolin, a 70 -year -old Italian who is the Secretary of State of the Vatican, and Tagle, a former Archbishop of Manila, aged 67, is considered candidates who could continue the inheritance of Pope Francis.
Meanwhile, Besungu, a 65 -year -old Congolese cardinal who heads the largest archdiocese of the Church in Africa, and Erdő, a 72 -year -old Hungarian theologian and scholar, are considered two of the main conservative contenders.
As Pope Francis appointed 108 of the 133 cardinals who will vote in the conclave, it is likely that the possible winner could be someone aligned with his policies.
The late pontiff increased the geographic spread of the college of Cardinals, with new people named from countries who had never been represented before, notably Mongolia and Tonga.
The next pope will be the person who earns at least 89 ballots – or a two -thirds majority – in the conclave.
For a large part of the last century, it took between three and 14 ballots to choose the new Pope.
Pope Francis was elected to the fifth ballot in 2013.
