Where Christians are “mocked, opposed, despised, or at best tolerated and pitied” is where the Catholic Church’s “missionary outreach is most desperately needed,” Pope Leo XIV said in his first homily as leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
Vatican
As expected, the 133 cardinals who entered the Sistine Chapel May 7 failed to elect the next pope on their first ballot.
At a Mass before the conclave that will elect the next pope, the dean of the College of Cardinals urged his brothers to choose the shepherd the Church and all of humanity need “at this difficult and complex and tormented” turning point in history.
On the final day of official mourning for the death of Pope Francis, the late pontiff was remembered as someone who was determined to live out the mission entrusted to him and serve others, even when his health deteriorated.
Only through loving others and accepting love in spite of one’s own failures can Christians truly understand and proclaim the joy of Christ’s victory over death, French Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline of Marseille said.
As members of the College of Cardinals met May 5, all 133 cardinals who plan to enter the conclave to elect a new pope had arrived in Rome, the Vatican press office said.
The conclave to elect a new pope, scheduled to begin May 7, is governed by two texts: a rule book and a prayer book.
One by one, placing a right hand on the Book of Gospels, staff driving, cooking, cleaning, and caring for the cardinals who will elect a new pope will swear an oath of perpetual secrecy about the election of the 267th successor of St. Peter.
Pope Francis was “a pope among the people, with an open heart toward everyone,” said Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, as he presided over the funeral of the pope, who died April 21 at the age of 88.
Given the late Pope Francis’ care and concern for the poor, a representative group of them has been formally invited to welcome his casket to Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major for burial.