The so-called ‘Princes of the Church’ gave little away as they made their way through throngs of pilgrims and reporters for the morning gathering, not even speculating on the duration of the conclave.
One of the more conservative prelates, Cardinal William Seng Chye Goh, the Archbishop of Singapore, stated, “We don’t know, we just wait for the Lord to tell us.”
Following the death of Pope Francis, an Argentine reformer who led the Catholic Church for 12 years, on April 21, cardinals from all around the world were summoned to Rome.
133 of them will enter the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday and remain there until Francis’ successor has received a two-thirds majority following a series of secret ballots.
“We acknowledge his accomplishment, but we will select the most qualified individual to succeed St. Peter because no pope is flawless and nobody can do everything,” Goh told reporters.
The archbishop of Algiers, Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco, expressed his hope that the conclave will select a pope who would continue Francis’ progressive legacy.
“We have to find the one that the Lord has already selected,” he stated. “We could have spent a lot more time praying together, but I have no doubt that we will be prepared when the time comes and we will provide the Church with the pope that the Lord has desired.”
