Today, Cardinals go into Conclave to elect a new Pope to succeed Pope Francis who passed away on Easter Monday. They gather in the Sistine Chapel and will remain locked there, closed to the outside world, until they elect a new Pope. Catholics around the world will be watching the events in the Vatican with keen interest, waiting to see the white smoke from the Sistine Chapel. But so also the rest of the world. The Pope is not just the spiritual head of the church, but also a world leader. We do not know whom the Cardinals will elect. What we know is that every eligible cardinal, including our very own Anthony Kambanda, is in contention The election process is supposed to be secret, free of external influence. However, speculation has been rife in the media about who is likely to succeed Pope Francis. Indeed, there is a list of frontrunners in the race for St Peter’s seat. Could this influence the choice? Probably or maybe not. Perhaps none of the media favourites will be elected. There might even be a surprise choice. These things happen. You might even think there is no competition or candidates openly interested in the title of Holy Father or His Holiness. After all God’s work is not supposed to be for the shamelessly ambitious, but for the divinely anointed. That may be the ideal. In practice, however, there is competition, if not of individuals, of trends within the church. Conservatives or traditionalists against liberals, progressives or reformists, for instance. Sometimes moderates against both. Or even between geographical regions. And so, what happens behind the closed doors of the Sistine Chapel might be different from the ideal. An election is an election, after all. Of course, we never know how much campaigning, in whatever form, takes place, if at all. How much horse-trading, arm-twisting or other forms of persuasion goes on. Or, as we are told, the decision is down to the guidance of the Holy Spirit only. One thing is certain, though. The late Pope will be present and, in some way, influence the decision of the Cardinals. He may be dead, but he cannot be ignored. Some of the Cardinal electors might want a choice radically different from him. Those who did not like the direction in which he was taking the church or were uncomfortable with his example of what a shepherd should be will certainly want someone of a different mould. Certainly not one that will remind them of their pastoral or other deficiencies, or their worldliness. Pope Francis was close to his flock – physically and even emotionally, in his manner and style. He connected with them. Even in his last days, when he was gravely ill, this aspect of him was on display, visiting prisoners and the faithful on Easter Sunday, just hours before he died. He was human, like all of us, had flaws like any of us, and understood the failings of others. He spoke a human language that ordinary people spoke. Not the lofty, often opaque or highly intellectual some of his predecessors used. He oozed warmth, but also simplicity and humility. He eschewed the pomp of the papacy and chose the simplicity of an ordinary priest. Perhaps one of his greatest contributions to Christianity will remain his insistence on an inclusiveness and compassionate church. No member of the flock should be lost. Even those who go astray should not be ostracised but rather redeemed. They need compassion, not condemnation, understanding, not judgement. The Cardinals in his mould will want someone who will continue in the same direction. Or there will be compromise, settle on a moderate who will not rock the boat too much, who will conserve some elements of tradition but also accommodate those with other views. I am sure the faithful are praying for a Pope who will keep God’s flock safe and hold the church together in these turbulent times. Whatever the nature of the process and the different wishes and expectations of the faithful and the rest of humanity, at the end of it all we shall have a Pope. White smoke will rise from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel and a Cardinal will come out and proclaim Habemus Papam (We have a Pope).
