The Dialog

By Cindy Wooden

Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — Although attempts were made to simplify the ceremony, Pope Francis officially inaugurated his ministry as pope and bishop of Rome in a liturgy filled with biblical symbolism and signs of the universality of his mission.

But before the solemn rites began March 19, Pope Francis, known for choosing public transport over chauffeur-driven limousines, took his first spin in the popemobile, blessing the tens of thousands of people who arrived in St. Peter’s Square as early as 4 a.m. to pray with him. He waved and, at one point, gave a thumbs up to the faithful. He also kissed three babies held up to him by the chief of Vatican security, Domenico Gianni, and other officers.

Pope Francis greets the crowd before celebrating his inaugural Mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican March 19. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

But he climbed out of the open jeep used as a popemobile to kiss a severely disabled man.

Before entering St. Peter’s Square, he addressed by satellite thousands of his fellow Argentines gathered in Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires, where he had been archbishop before his election as pope. He thanked the people for their prayers and told them: “I have a favor to ask. I want to ask that we all walk together, caring for one another … caring for life. Care for the family, care for nature, care for children, care for the aged. Let there be no hatred, no fighting, put aside envy and don’t gossip about anyone.”

As the Mass began, tens of thousands of pilgrims, faithful and tourists continued to arrive, filling St. Peter’s Square and crowding around the large video screens placed along the boulevard leading to the square. By the time of Communion, the Vatican said there were between 150,000 and 200,000 people present.

In his homily, Pope Francis asked prayers that he would be able to protect the church like St. Joseph protected Mary and Jesus, “discreetly, humbly and silently, but with an unfailing presence and utter fidelity, even when he finds it hard to understand.”

He said in the Gospels, St. Joseph “can look at things realistically, he is in touch with his surroundings, he can make truly wise decisions.”

Although according to church law he officially became pope the minute he accepted his election in the Sistine Chapel March 13, Pope Francis received important symbols of his office just before the inauguration Mass — the Book of the Gospels, the ring of the fisherman, St. Peter, and the pallium, a woolen band worn around the shoulders to evoke a shepherd carrying a sheep.

With members of the College of Cardinals dressed in gold gathered before the main altar in St. Peter’s Basilica and brass players sounding a fanfare, the rites began at the tomb of St. Peter. Pope Francis venerated the mortal remains of his predecessor as head of the church and was joined there by the heads of the Eastern Catholic Churches.

Processing behind the Eastern church leaders and the cardinals, Pope Francis, wearing a simple, mostly white chasuble and his black shoes, came out into St. Peter’s Square while the choir chanted a special litany to Christ the King.

French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, who had announced Pope Francis’ election to the world six days earlier, placed the pallium, which had been worn by Pope Benedict XVI, around the new pope’s neck. The retired pope did not attend the Mass.

“The Good Shepherd charged Peter to feed his lambs and his sheep; today you succeed him as the bishop of this church to which he and the Apostle Paul were fathers in faith,” Cardinal Tauran said.

Italian Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, presented Pope Francis with the fisherman’s ring, a gold-plated silver band featuring St. Peter holding keys, a reminder that Jesus told St. Peter: “I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Giving the pope “the ring, the seal of Peter the fisherman,” Cardinal Sodano told the pope he was called, as bishop of Rome, to preside over the church with charity. He prayed the pope would have “the gentleness and strength to preserve, through your ministry, all those who believe in Christ in unity and fellowship.”

Six cardinals, representing the entire College of Cardinals, publicly pledged obedience to the pope.

While many Christians acknowledge the special role of the bishop of Rome as the one who presides over the entire Christian community in love, the way the papacy has been exercised over the centuries is one of the key factors in the ongoing division of Christians.

For the first time since the Great Schism of 1054 split the main Christian community into East and West, the ecumenical patriarch attended the installation Mass. Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, first among equals of the Eastern Orthodox, sat in a place of honor near the papal altar.

Catholicos Karekin II of Etchmiadzin, patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church, also attended the Mass along with delegations from 12 other Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches, 10 Anglican and Protestant communities and three international Christian organizations, including the World Council of Churches.

After the Lord’s prayer, Pope Francis exchanged a sign of peace with Patriarch Bartholomew and with Catholicos Karekin.

The Chief Rabbinate of Israel, the Jewish community of Rome and several international Jewish organizations sent representatives to the ceremony, as did Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain and Hindu communities and organizations.

Also present were representatives of 132 governments, led by the presidents of Italy and Argentina, the reigning royals of six countries, including Belgium’s king and queen, and 31 heads of state. Vice President Joe Biden led the U.S. delegation while David Lloyd Johnston, governor general, led the Canadian delegation.

By Cindy Wooden

Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis said that “as things got dangerous” in the conclave voting, he was sitting next to his “great friend,” Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes “who comforted me.”

When the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio went over the 77 votes needed to become pope, he said, Cardinal Hummes “hugged me, kissed me and said, ‘Don’t forget the poor.’”

Adorning the walls of the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi are a series of 28 frescoes painted by the famed Florentine Renaissance artist Giotto. They tell the story of a man’s extraordinary journey of faith. In this fresco, St. Francis holds up the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the episcopal seat of the pontiff. It illustrates the dream of Pope Innocent III, who moved by this vision, endorses the religious order of St. Francis and his followers. (CNS photo/Octavio Duran)

Pope Francis told thousands of journalists March 16 that he took to heart the words of his friend and chose to be called after St. Francis of Assisi, “the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation,” the same created world “with which we don’t have such a good relationship.”

“How I would like a church that is poor and that is for the poor,” he told the more than 5,000 media representatives who came from around the world for the conclave and his election.

Pope Francis also said some had suggested jokingly that he, a Jesuit, should have taken the name Clement XV “to get even with Clement XIV, who suppressed the Society of Jesus” in the 1700s.

The pope told the media, “You’ve really been working, haven’t you.”

While the church includes a large institution with centuries of history, he said, “the church does not have a political nature, but a spiritual one.”

Pope Francis told reporters it was the Holy Spirit who led Pope Benedict XVI to resign, and it was the Holy Spirit who guided the conclave.

The pope acknowledged how difficult it is for many media to cover the church as a spiritual, rather than a political institution, and he offered special thanks “to those who were able to observe and recount these events in the story of the church from the most correct perspective in which they must be read, that of faith.”

The church, he said, “is the people of God, the holy people of God, because it is journeying toward an encounter with Jesus Christ.”

No one can understand the church without understanding its spiritual purpose, he said.

“Christ is the pastor of the church, but his presence passes through the freedom of human beings,” he said. ‘Among them, one is chosen to serve as his vicar on earth. But Christ is the center, the focal point.”

Thanking the reporters again for all their hard work, Pope Francis also asked them to continue trying “to discover the true nature of the church and its journey through the world, with its virtues as well as its sins.”

Communications, he said, requires study, preparation and a special attention “to truth, goodness and beauty,” which is something the church has in common with journalism.

He ended his talk by telling reporters he hoped they would grow in their knowledge of “the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the reality of the church. I entrust you to the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, star of the new evangelization.”

After personally greeting dozens of journalists and representatives of the Vatican press office, the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, the Vatican newspaper and Vatican Radio, the pope came back to the microphone.

“I know that many of you are not Catholic or are not believers, so I impart my heartfelt blessing to each of you silently, respecting your consciences, but knowing that each of you is a child of God. May God bless you,” he said.

By Cindy Wooden

Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican released an official schedule for Pope Francis March 17-24, but if his first two days as pope were any indication, the schedule was only an outline destined to expand at a moment’s notice.

The only event on the new pope’s schedule March 15 was an audience with the world’s cardinals. But shortly before that meeting, he shocked the receptionist at the Jesuit headquarters by telephoning the order’s superior general; he made an evening visit to a Rome clinic to visit 90-year-old Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mejia who had had a heart attack; then he stopped at the replica of the grotto of Lourdes in the Vatican Gardens to pray before a statue of Mary.

Pope Francis greets people after celebrating Mass at St. Anne’s Parish within the Vatican March 17. The new pope greeted every person leaving the small church and then walked over to meet people waiting around St. Anne’s Gate. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

The Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, said the pope spent 20 minutes visiting privately with Cardinal Mejia at the Pius XI clinic before visiting the clinic’s intensive care unit, greeting doctors and other staff members, then praying in the chapel with the Sisters of St. Joseph, who operate the facility.

Also March 16, Pope Francis formally reconfirmed the prefects, presidents and secretaries of Vatican congregations and councils “donec aliter provideatur” (until otherwise provided), meaning for the time being. While temporary reappointments are normal at the beginning of a pontificate, the Vatican notice added that the pope intended to take “time for reflection, prayer and dialogue before making any definitive appointments or confirmations.”

March 17 the pope celebrated Mass at Rome’s Church of St. Anne, then led an overflow crowd in St. Peter’s Square in praying the Angelus.

Pope Francis was to meet March 18 with Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

The new pope’s installation, formally known as the Mass for the beginning of the Petrine ministry, was scheduled for March 19, the feast of St. Joseph, in St. Peter’s Square.

In addition to official government delegations, the Vatican confirmed that Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, was planning to attend. The Vatican newspaper said he would be the first patriarch of Constantinople to attend a papal installation since the Great Schism of 1054 separated Christianity between East and West.

While Patriarch Bartholomew did not attend the installation of Pope Benedict XVI in 2005, he was a frequent visitor to the Vatican during Pope Benedict’s pontificate.

The rest of the pope’s schedule released by the Vatican included:

• March 20 Pope Francis will meet with the delegations from Christian churches and communities that came for the installation.

• March 22 the pope will meet with diplomats accredited to the Vatican.

• March 23 Pope Francis will leave the Vatican at noon by helicopter and fly 15 minutes south to Castel Gandolfo. He will meet Pope Benedict at the papal villa there and have lunch with him.

• March 24 Pope Francis will preside over Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square.

By Cindy Wooden

Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — The night of his election, Pope Francis phoned the Vatican ambassador in Argentina and asked him to tell the country’s bishops and faithful not to feel obliged to come to Rome for his installation, but instead give the money to the poor, the Vatican spokesman confirmed.

“Pope Francis did not forbid them to come,” said Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the spokesman, but he said he would prefer their continued prayers and acts of charity.

The nuncio to Argentina, Archbishop Emil Tscherrig, wrote to all the bishops March 14 conveying the Argentine pope’s sentiments.

“The Holy Father Francis asked me to convey to all the bishops, priests, religious and all God’s people, his gratitude for your prayers and expressions of love, affection and charity,” the archbishop wrote.

However, he said, Pope Francis asked that “instead of going to Rome for the start of his pontificate March 19, you would continue with that spiritual closeness he so appreciates, accompanying him with some act of charity toward those in need.”

On Pope Francis’ second full day in office, Father Lombardi said, he celebrated Mass at 7 a.m. in the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where the cardinals lived during the conclave and where the pope will remain until the papal apartments are ready for him.

Other cardinals still at the residence heard the pope was to celebrate the Mass and went down to join him, Father Lombardi said.

The Vatican spokesman said he spoke to the director of the residence who said that Pope Francis continues to go down to the dining hall for meals. He usually arrives after most of the cardinals “and just goes to the first table he finds with an empty seat.” No special table has been set up for the pope, and he does not sit alone at an empty table.

Father Lombardi also told reporters it was unlikely that Pope Francis, the bishop of Rome, would be able to take possession of his cathedral — the Basilica of St. John Lateran — before Easter, given that his installation is only five days before Palm Sunday and the start of Holy Week.

With journalists from around the world reporting on the new pope and with a long, complicated list of all the popes since St. Peter, Father Lombardi made a special clarification: “We say Pope Francis is the 266th pope, the 265th successor of Peter.”

As he has said in recent days, Father Lombardi said he expects Pope Francis to travel to Brazil in July for World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro. As soon as the pope officially confirms the trip, it will be announced, he said.

A Polish journalist said Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow, Poland, had said he invited Pope Francis to Poland for World Youth Day 2016.

Father Lombardi said: “World Youth Day 2016 in Poland? That’s news. We expect the next World Youth Day to be announced at the end of the celebrations in Rio.”

By Cindy Wooden

Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis began his first full day as pope with an early morning act of Marian devotion and by paying the bill at the clergy hotel where he had stayed before entering the conclave that elected him.

The new pope left the Domus Sanctae Marthae at 8 a.m. March 14 for a five-minute drive to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where he prayed before an icon of Mary and the child Jesus beloved by Romans, the “Salus Populi Romani” (Protectress of the Roman People).

Newly-elected Pope Francis, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina, waves after praying at the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome March 14. At right is Cardinal Agostino Vallini, papal vicar for Rome. (CNS photo/Alessandro Bianchi, Reuters)

Pope Francis knelt in prayer for a while, then sat praying for several minutes before leaving at the altar the bouquet of flowers he had been carrying, said Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman.

The pope was joined by Cardinal Agostino Vallini, papal vicar for Rome, and by Cardinal Santos Abril Castello, archpriest of the basilica. U.S. Cardinal Bernard F. Law, retired archpriest of the basilica, also was present, Father Lombardi said.

The spokesman said the pope paused in front of the basilica’s main altar, which is built over a reliquary containing, according to tradition, pieces of the manger where Jesus was laid as a baby.

Pope Francis, a Jesuit, then went to the Sistine Chapel of the Basilica of St. Mary Major, which is where St. Ignatius of Loyola celebrated his first Mass in 1538. Ignatius had wanted to celebrate his first Mass in Bethlehem, but could not travel there, so chose instead St. Mary Major with its relic of the manger, Father Lombardi said.

“This is a significant place for the Jesuits,” he said.

The pope also stopped briefly at the tomb of St. Pius V, who was pope from 1566 to 1572.

Afterward, riding in an unmarked police car rather than in one of the papal sedans, Pope Francis went to the Domus Internationalis Paulus VI, a hotel and residence for clergy, which is where he was staying before the conclave began March 12.

Father Lombardi said Pope Francis went to collect the suitcase he had left there. On the way out of the building, he stopped to greet the people who work there and “he paid his bill as a good example” to the other clerics.

The spokesman also told reporters March 14 that Pope Francis was wearing the simple pectoral cross that he’d had as a bishop and archbishop in Argentina.

In addition, he confirmed that the Vatican would be referring to the pope as “Pope Francis” and not “Pope Francis I.”

Father Lombardi also confirmed press reports that when Pope Francis was about 21 years old, he had undergone an operation to remove part of one of his lungs. In the 55 years since, he said, the new pope has enjoyed good and even robust health.

The new pope, like his recent predecessors, is a polyglot, the spokesman said. He speaks Spanish, English, Italian, French, German “and probably Portuguese,” he said, adding that if Pope Francis doesn’t speak Portuguese well now, he is likely to by July when he is scheduled to travel to Brazil for World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro.

Pope Francis was scheduled to celebrate an evening Mass March 14 in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel with the cardinals who elected him. Afterward, Father Lombardi said, he was to cut the seals on the papal apartments, allowing Vatican employees to begin the minor works foreseen before he moves in.

By Cindy Wooden

Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis began his first full day as pope with an early morning act of Marian devotion and by paying the bill at the clergy hotel where he had stayed before entering the conclave that elected him.

The new pope left the Domus Sanctae Marthae at 8 a.m. March 14 for a five-minute drive to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where he prayed before an icon of Mary and the child Jesus beloved by Romans, the “Salus Populi Romani” (Protectress of the Roman People).

Newly-elected Pope Francis, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina, leaves flowers in front of the “Salus Populi Romani,” (“Salvation of the Roman People”) a Marian icon in a chapel of the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome, March 14. (CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano)

Pope Francis knelt in prayer for a while, then sat praying for several minutes before leaving at the altar the bouquet of flowers he had been carrying, said Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman.

The pope was joined by Cardinal Agostino Vallini, papal vicar for Rome, and by Cardinal Santos Abril Castello, archpriest of the basilica. U.S. Cardinal Bernard F. Law, retired archpriest of the basilica, also was present, Father Lombardi said.

The spokesman said the pope paused in front of the basilica’s main altar, which is built over a reliquary containing, according to tradition, pieces of the manger where Jesus was laid as a baby.

Pope Francis, a Jesuit, then went to the Sistine Chapel of the Basilica of St. Mary Major, which is where St. Ignatius of Loyola celebrated his first Mass in 1538. Ignatius had wanted to celebrate his first Mass in Bethlehem, but could not travel there, so chose instead St. Mary Major with its relic of the manger, Father Lombardi said.

“This is a significant place for the Jesuits,” he said.

The pope also stopped briefly at the tomb of St. Pius V, who was pope from 1566 to 1572.

Afterward, riding in an unmarked police car rather than in one of the papal sedans, Pope Francis went to the Domus Internationalis Paulus VI, a hotel and residence for clergy, which is where he was staying before the conclave began March 12.

Father Lombardi said Pope Francis went to collect the suitcase he had left there. On the way out of the building, he stopped to greet the people who work there and “he paid his bill as a good example” to the other clerics.

The spokesman also told reporters March 14 that Pope Francis was wearing the simple pectoral cross that he’d had as a bishop and archbishop in Argentina.

In addition, he confirmed that the Vatican would be referring to the pope as “Pope Francis” and not “Pope Francis I.”

Father Lombardi also confirmed press reports that when Pope Francis was about 21 years old, he had undergone an operation to remove part of one of his lungs. In the 55 years since, he said, the new pope has enjoyed good and even robust health.

The new pope, like his recent predecessors, is a polyglot, the spokesman said. He speaks Spanish, English, Italian, French, German “and probably Portuguese,” he said, adding that if Pope Francis doesn’t speak Portuguese well now, he is likely to by July when he is scheduled to travel to Brazil for World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro.

Pope Francis was scheduled to celebrate an evening Mass March 14 in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel with the cardinals who elected him. Afterward, Father Lombardi said, he was to cut the seals on the papal apartments, allowing Vatican employees to begin the minor works foreseen before he moves in.

By Cindy Wooden

Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — To the delighted surprise of many, clouds of white smoke poured from the chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel March 13, indicating a pope had been elected on the conclave’s fifth ballot.

The smoke signal went off at 7:05 p.m. The 115 cardinals gathered to elect the 266th successor of Peter had taken one vote late March 12 and two votes the next morning, resulting in clouds of black smoke.

The Vatican estimated it would be about an hour before Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the top-ranking cardinal deacon, would come out onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica and confirm the election with the phrase “Habemus papam” (We have a pope).

The white smoke comes from burning the ballots and cardinals’ notes and tallies along with special chemicals to produce abundant white smoke.

But the world did not know the identity of the new pope right away. While the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica rang out the news of the election of the new pope, he was inside the Sistine Chapel changing into papal vestments and praying with the cardinals who just elected him.

He also was scheduled to stop on his way to the balcony to pray briefly before the Blessed Sacrament in the Pauline Chapel, where the cardinals began their solemn procession into the conclave March 12.

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected on the fourth ballot at the conclave in 2005, taking the name Pope Benedict XVI. Unlike eight years ago, however, most people believe there was no clear favorite going into the conclave, which led to surprise that it was over so quickly.

White smoke rises from the chimney above the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, indicating a new pope has been elected, March 13. The conclave to elect a new pope met over two days before making a decision. (CNS photo/Max Rossi, Reuters)

Two stoves, leading to one smokestack, were installed in the Sistine Chapel for the conclave. The ballots and any notes or tallies individual cardinals made are burned in one stove. The other stove burns special chemical cartridges designed to create clouds of black or white smoke for a full seven minutes.

Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, told reporters the cartridges producing black smoke have potassium perchlorate, anthracene and sulphur. Those producing white smoke have potassium chlorate, lactose and a pine resin. To improve the draught, making sure the smoke goes up and out instead of filling the Sistine Chapel with smoke as occurred in 2005, the pipes leading to the roof are pre-heated with an electrical current.

Four Catholic students from Duquesne University’s Rome campus were in the square awaiting the smoke March 13. One of them, Josh Suhey of Youngstown, Ohio, said, “We’re here to see the pope and be part of history.”

Asked about the cardinals using smoke to communicate with the outside world, another student, Concetta Staltari from Pittsburgh, said, “I think it’s great, really awesome to stick to tradition.” She said she couldn’t wait to hear the bells ring, too, with a successful election.

By Cindy Wooden

Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — More black smoke poured from the chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel at 11:40 a.m. March 13, which seemed to indicate the 115 cardinal electors failed to elect a pope on their second and third ballots.

The cardinals had voted once March 12 without electing a pope. According to the schedule published before the conclave, the cardinals were to take two votes in the morning of their first full day in the Sistine Chapel and return to their residence at 1 p.m. for lunch if the voting was unsuccessful.

Black smoke billows from the chimney on the Sistine Chapel in this still image taken from video March 13. The black smoke indicated that cardinals did not elect a new pope In the morning voting session of the conclave’s second day. (CNS photo/Reuters)

Ballots are burned a maximum of twice a day: White smoke would pour out of the chimney at mid-morning or mid-afternoon if one candidate received the 77 votes needed to be elected pope; and black smoke would puff out at midday or late evening if the two morning or two evening ballots were unsuccessful.

Two stoves, leading to one smokestack, were installed in the Sistine Chapel for the conclave. The ballots and any notes or tallies individual cardinals made are burned in one stove. The other stove burns special chemical pellets designed to create clouds of black or white smoke for a full seven minutes.

Because they are incommunicado during the conclave, the smoke stack is the only way the outside world knows what is happening with the cardinals, who come from 48 countries.

Despite it being a rainy work and school day, several thousand people were in St. Peter’s Square watching the smokestack in the hopes of seeing white smoke and being closest to the balcony of the basilica where a new pope would emerge.

Father Kevin Elgrave, a priest of the Archdiocese of Toronto studying in Rome, was in the square early, holding an umbrella, a Canadian flag and a rosary.

“I wouldn’t miss it for anything … rain or not,” he said. It is important to be in the square and pray, “to be so close to them (cardinals).”

By Cindy Wooden

Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — Despite the rain, thousands of people filled St. Peter’s Square after dark March 12, the first evening of the conclave, to witness the black smoke that signaled the Catholic Church’s 115 cardinal electors had failed, as expected, to elect a pope on the first ballot.

The smoke started billowing out of the chimney on the Sistine Chapel at 7:41 p.m.

Cardinals from around the world are seen in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel March 12 as they begin the conclave to elect a successor to Pope Benedict XVI. Shut off from the outside world, the 115 cardinals will cast ballots to elect a new pontiff. (CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano via Reuters)

“You don’t want to be in Rome and miss this,” said Rebecca Thompson, who lives in New York. Her friend Kasia Twarowska, originally from Krakow, Poland, said, “Nothing can stop people from coming here — not even the rain. Everyone is blessed to be in Rome at this time.”

Three hours earlier, invoking the aid of the Holy Spirit and the holy men and women from all over the world recognized as saints, the cardinals processed slowly into the Sistine Chapel to begin the process to elect a pope.

Once in the chapel, the cardinals from 48 countries vowed that, if elected pope, they would faithfully fulfill the ministry of universal pastor of the church and would defend the rights and freedom of the Holy See.

They also solemnly swore to scrupulously follow the rules for the election of a pope and keep secret the results of the votes, unless they have express permission from the new pope to reveal details.

After reciting the oath together, each cardinal walked up to the Book of the Gospels, put his right hand on it, said his name and sealed his oath, “So help me God and these holy Gospels that I touch with my hand.”

The portion filmed by Vatican television ended with Msgr. Guido Marini, master of papal liturgical ceremonies, saying, “Extra omnes,” ordering out everyone not authorized to remain.

Among those staying behind was 87-year-old Maltese Cardinal Prosper Grech, an Augustinian priest and expert on the fathers of the early church. The cardinals had chosen him to give a meditation “on the problems facing the church” and “on the need for careful discernment in choosing the new pope.”

The afternoon events began in the Pauline Chapel in the Apostolic Palace, not far from the Sistine Chapel. The cardinals were dressed for prayer in what is described as “choir dress.” The 111 cardinals from the Latin-rite church wore red cassocks topped with the white, lace-trimmed rochet and the red mozzetta (a short cape). The four cardinals from Eastern Catholic churches wore the equivalent choir dress of their churches.

The average age of the cardinals entering the conclave was close to 72 years. Forty-eight of the 115 cardinals previously voted in the 2005 conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI; for the other 67 cardinals, this was their first conclave.

By Cindy Wooden

Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — Invoking the aid of the Holy Spirit and the holy men and women from all over the world recognized as saints, 115 cardinals processed slowly into the Sistine Chapel to begin the process to elect a pope.

Once in the chapel, the cardinals from 48 countries vowed that, if elected pope, they would faithfully fulfill the ministry of universal pastor of the church and would defend the rights and freedom of the Holy See.

Cardinals from around the world are seen in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel March 12 to begin the conclave to elect a successor to Pope Benedict XVI in a still image taken from video. Shut off from the outside world, the 115 cardinals will cast ballots to select a new pontiff. (CNS photo/Vatican CTV via Reuters)

They also solemnly swore to scrupulously follow the rules for the election of a pope and keep secret the results of the votes, unless they have express permission from the new pope to reveal details.

After reciting the oath together, each cardinal walked up to the Book of the Gospels, put his right hand on it, said his name and sealed his oath, “So help me God and these holy Gospels that I touch with my hand.”

The portion filmed by Vatican television ended with Msgr. Guido Marini, master of papal liturgical ceremonies, saying, “Extra omnes,” ordering out everyone not authorized to remain.

Among those staying behind was 87-year-old Maltese Cardinal Prosper Grech, an Augustinian priest and expert on the fathers of the early church. The cardinals had chosen him to give a meditation “on the problems facing the church” and “on the need for careful discernment in choosing the new pope.”

The afternoon events began in the Pauline Chapel in the Apostolic Palace, not far from the Sistine Chapel. The cardinals were dressed for prayer in what is described as “choir dress.” The 111 cardinals from the Latin-rite church wore red cassocks topped with the white, lace-trimmed rochet and the red mozzetta (a short cape). The four cardinals from Eastern Catholic churches wore the equivalent choir dress of their churches.

The average age of the cardinals entering the conclave was close to 72 years. Forty-eight of the 115 cardinals previously voted in the 2005 conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI; for the other 67 cardinals, this was their first conclave.

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the top-ranking cardinal elector, led the others in prayer, beginning, “May the Lord who guides our hearts in the love and patience of Christ be with you all.”

He told them, “The whole church, united with us in prayer, insistently invokes the grace of the Holy Spirit so that a worthy pastor for the whole flock of Christ would be elected by us.”

“May the Lord direct our steps in the path of truth so that, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the holy apostles Peter and Paul and all the saints, we would always do what is pleasing to him,” the cardinal prayed.

Chanting the Litany of the Saints, the cardinal electors began their walk to the Sistine Chapel, led by U.S. Cardinal James M. Harvey, archpriest of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls and the lowest in the church’s internal cardinal ranking.

They chanted requests that God would have pity on them, they asked the saints, archangels and ancient biblical prophets to pray for them. They invoked the aid of Christ, asking for his mercy and protection. They also prayed for the needs of those who have died and those threatened by hunger and war.

The cardinals asked God to give the world peace, to “comfort and enlighten” the church, help Christians reconcile with each other and to lead all people to the truth of the Gospel.

When they reached the chapel, the cardinals sang the ancient invocation of the Holy Spirit, “Veni, Creator Spiritus.”

The English version of the first verse usually is sung as: “Come, Holy Ghost, Creator blest, and in our hearts take up thy rest; come with thy grace and heavenly aid, to fill the hearts which thou hast made.”

Cardinal Re prayed that God would give the cardinals “the spirit of intelligence, truth and peace” so that they would know his will and serve it.