Pope Francis with Missionaries of Charity in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Sept. 15, 2022. / Credit: Pavel Mikheyev/Shutterstock

Lima Newsroom, Apr 29, 2025 / 16:19 pm (CNA).

Since his time as archbishop of Buenos Aires, Pope Francis was already known for his humility, closeness to the poor, and an austere lifestyle that spoke louder than words.

In the 2013 documentary “Pope Francis: A Man of His Word,” the pontiff recalled that “Jesus, in the Gospel, tells us that we cannot serve two masters: Either we serve God or we serve riches. And the great temptation that Christians, humankind, and the Church have always faced throughout history has been that of riches.”

The following are some of the gestures of austerity and charity toward the most needy made by Pope Francis during his 12 years as pontiff.

1. He lived at St. Martha’s House.

Instead of moving into the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace, as is customary for pontiffs, Pope Francis decided to reside in Casa Santa Marta, the Vatican guesthouse — where he stayed during the March 2013 conclave — because he wanted to maintain a simple lifestyle close to the people.

In a handwritten letter to an Argentine priest, he explained: “I’m out where people can see and live a normal life: public Mass in the morning, eating in the dining room with everyone, etc. This is good for me and prevents me from becoming isolated.”

The pontiff also confessed that he didn’t want to live in the Apostolic Palace because he wished to maintain the same way of being he had as archbishop in Buenos Aires.

During a June 7, 2013, meeting with children in Paul VI Hall, a little girl named Sofía asked him directly why he didn’t live in the Apostolic Palace. The pontiff’s response was simple and convincing: “We all have to think about becoming a little poorer: We should all do it. We should ask ourselves: How can I become a little poorer to be more like Jesus, who was the poor teacher?”

2. He visited the sick in the hospital.

Pope Francis regularly visited children, parents, and doctors at the Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital in Rome. He also visited the children’s section of Gemelli Polyclinic, the same hospital where he himself received medical treatment.

An example of this was on March 19, 2022, when, in the context of the war in Ukraine, the pope visited Ukrainian children hospitalized at Bambino Gesù, expressing his closeness and solidarity with the victims of the conflict.

A year earlier, while recovering from surgery, Francis visited children with cancer in the pediatric oncology department of the same hospital. The visit was prompted by the letters and drawings the children sent him wishing him a speedy recovery.

3. He opted for a simple iron pectoral cross and a silver-gilt fisherman’s ring.

After being elected pope, Francis didn’t want to wear the gilded crucifix with precious stones as his predecessors had done and instead opted to wear a simpler iron pectoral cross, known as the “Cross of the Good Shepherd,” that he had worn since 1998 as archbishop of Buenos Aires. 

Likewise, the “fisherman’s ring,” a symbol of the pontificate that Francis wore starting with inaugural Mass on March 19, 2013, was not made of gold but of gilded silver. The design depicted St. Peter with his keys and was created by the Italian artist Enrico Manfrini. The choice of this model, among three options presented, once again reflected Pope Francis’ simplicity.

4. He wore his predecessor’s vestments as archbishop of Buenos Aires.

In a recent statement to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, Marcelo Pivato, a close friend of Pope Francis, shared an anecdote that illustrates the pontiff’s humility. The story takes place during the time when Cardinal Antonio Quarracino was the archbishop of Buenos Aires.

Pivato fondly recalled that, at the time, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, coadjutor archbishop of Buenos Aires, was known for his simplicity and austere lifestyle. He then recounted how, after Quarracino’s death, a curious incident arose involving vestments.

“When Cardinal Quarracino died, he was a robust, heavy man, and Pope Francis was very thin. During the Corpus Christi celebrations, the nuns who were serving at the archdiocesan office told him that he would need a vestment for the occasion, and Quarracino’s was the one that was left, but it was very large. So he said, ‘Well, bring me an estimate so they can make it.’ When he saw the figure, he asked the nuns, ‘Who knows how to sew?’ And some of them did. Then he told them, ‘Well, make Cardinal Quarracino’s vestment smaller for me.’”

5. Pope Francis always carried his black briefcase.

The image of Pope Francis with his signature black briefcase caught the eye on his first papal trip, during World Youth Day in Rio 2013, although a friend assured he had been using it since he was a priest.

That year, the Holy Father told reporters on the return flight to Rome that he has always carried his own briefcase. “When I travel, I take it with me. Inside, I carry my razor, my breviary, my date book, a book to read. I carry one about St. Thérèse, to whom I am devoted.”

Pivato recalled with humor and admiration the pontiff’s attachment to that briefcase since he was a priest in Buenos Aires.

“You’ll remember that he always carried a leather suitcase. The little black one. So one day I gave him a new one. I said, ‘Here, Father, I brought you a new suitcase, so you can get rid of the one that was used by a door-to-door linens collector in my grandmother’s time.’ Because, in truth, sheets were collected in installments before, and those little suitcases were used. Well, he never used it. He stuck with that one,” he told ACI Prensa.

6. He organized lunches to feed the poorest.

Pope Francis instituted the World Day of the Poor on Nov. 21, 2016, through his apostolic letter Misericordia et Misera at the conclusion of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. With this initiative, he called all Christians to live in concrete solidarity with those who suffer most, especially by feeding the hungry and sharing one’s table with the poorest.

Throughout his pontificate, Pope Francis has provided a concrete example of this mandate. Between the establishment of the World Day of the Poor and the end of 2024, he shared lunch with thousands of people in need on several occasions in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican.

7. He wore his usual black shoes instead of the traditional red shoes.

True to his simple style, Pope Francis wore his usual black shoes made in Buenos Aires throughout his 12-year pontificate, abandoning the traditional red shoes of his predecessors and continuing to wear modest loafers.

In a phone call to his longtime shoemaker, Carlos Samaria, he asked him not to do anything new or flashy for the start of his pontificate: “No red shoes, just black as usual.”

Samaria, who made his shoes for 40 years, described the shoes the pope wore as having “a simple cut, made of black calfskin, with a smooth upper, no frills. If you pick up one of the pope’s shoes, it looks like a galosh, unadorned but with laces.”

8. ‘I was in prison and you visited me’: He was close to the incarcerated.

From opening a Holy Door in a prison to visiting prisons on his apostolic trips, Pope Francis has made accompanying prisoners a regular gesture.

During his first Holy Week after being elected pontiff, in 2013, he went to a prison to wash the feet of prisoners, a gesture he repeated every year until his final Holy Thursday, four days before his death, when he visited the inmates of Regina Caeli prison. That day, Francis personally greeted each of the inmates. Afterward, he addressed them “to pray the Lord’s Prayer together and impart his blessing.”

Another memorable moment was when the pope inaugurated the 2025 Jubilee of Hope and, two days later, on Dec. 26, visited the Rebibbia prison, where he opened a second Holy Door as a gesture of grace toward those deprived of their freedom, incorporating them in a special way into this jubilee year, despite the fact that, according to tradition, Holy Doors are found only in the four papal basilicas in Rome.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Refugees from Mexico. / Credit: David Peinado Romero/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 29, 2025 / 15:49 pm (CNA).

Utah’s Catholic Community Services will continue to operate its refugee support programs despite federal funding cuts after receiving well over $1 million in donations.

In early April, the group, which is based in Salt Lake City, announced that its refugee resettlement program was “winding down” and would eventually close amid major federal funding cuts. The program normally provides “hundreds of refugees the assistance they need to recover from lives dismantled by persecution, war, or violence.”

The organization reported that it lost more than $2.5 million of annual aid and “could not sustain the program” without it.

In a statement on Monday, however, the group said that, following the announcement, “something remarkable happened. Our community rallied.”

The organization said it will no longer be forced to close the refugee program or end its support for Utah-based immigrant families.

“Thanks to a generous lead gift and an outpouring of support from individuals, foundations, and partners, CCS will continue offering resettlement services through a new, privately funded model,” the group said.

Catholic Community Services said it has raised $1.5 million to use over the next four years and said it will continue its work “on a smaller scale.” The majority of the funds came from one donor who wishes to remain anonymous.

The Catholic organization is now asking for another $1 million from “the broader community.” It stated that without this additional money, the organization “will be forced to scale back services and make further cuts to the program.”

The funds will help “refugee clients” by focusing on “six key pillars”: extended case management, housing assistance, employment readiness, youth education support, mental health services, and volunteer coordination and community engagement.

“These services aim to address the most urgent needs of refugee families and foster long-term self-sufficiency,” the organization said.

“While the program will operate at a reduced capacity, its core services — and the impact on the lives of those we serve — remain as vital as ever. This transformation ensures we can uphold our mission while adapting to a changing national landscape.”

Pope Francis blesses a newly married couple during his general audience on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Apr 29, 2025 / 15:19 pm (CNA).

In an exhortation to young people published after his death, Pope Francis urged couples to prepare properly for marriage and commit themselves to “love that lasts a lifetime.” 

The missive, a foreword to the book “Love Forever” by the YOUCAT Foundation, urges young people considering marriage to “believe in love, believe in God, and believe that you are capable of taking on the adventure” of lifelong matrimony. 

The Holy Father in the text described the traditional wedding vows of “until death do us part” as “an extraordinary promise.” 

“Of course, I am not blind, and neither are you. How many marriages today fail after three, five, seven years?” the pope wrote in the foreword, published by the New York Times on Monday.

Asking rhetorically if it would be better “to avoid the pain, to touch each other only as though in a passing dance, to enjoy each other, play together, and then leave,” the pope countered that love “until further notice” is not love. 

“We humans have the desire to be accepted without reservations, and those who do not have this experience often — unknowingly — carry a wound for the rest of their lives,” Francis argued. “Instead, those who enter into a union lose nothing but gain everything: life at its fullest.“

The Holy Father noted that he had urged the Church to “help you build a foundation for your relationship based on God’s faithful love.” He wrote that he “dreamed” of a catechumenate-style marriage formation program for the Church, one that might last years and would “save you from disappointment, from invalid or unstable marriages.”

Pointing to YOUCAT’s marriage formation material as a guide, the pope said couples should “absolutely participate in marriage preparation courses.”

“Before receiving the sacrament of marriage, a proper preparation is necessary,” the pope wrote.

“We cannot continue on as before: Many only see the beautiful ritual,” he said. “And then, after some years, they separate. Faith is destroyed. Wounds are opened. There are often children who are missing a father or a mother.”

Comparing marriage to the dance of tango in his native Argentina, Pope Francis said treating a marriage this way is “like dancing tango poorly.” 

“Tango is a dance that must be learned. This is all the more true when it comes to marriage and family,” the late pontiff said.

Quoting his earlier apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, the pope finished the foreword: “In young love, the dancing — step by step, a dance toward hope with eyes full of wonder — must not stop.”

Cardinals participate in Day 4 of the Novendiales Masses for Pope Francis on April 29, 2025, in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

CNA Staff, Apr 29, 2025 / 14:49 pm (CNA).

The Pontifical Mission Societies USA is launching a prayer campaign to pray for the cardinals involved in the upcoming conclave as they prepare to elect the next pope. 

Monsignor Roger Landry, the national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies USA, encouraged Catholics to pray for the cardinals in a video message from St. Peter’s Square on Monday.

The cardinals on Monday determined that the conclave to elect Pope Francis’ successor will begin on Wednesday, May 7. 

“That’s nine days from now,” Landry said on Monday. “A perfect time of prayer for the cardinals as they take on their important responsibility before God of responding to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in order to be able to discern who should be the successor of St. Peter and the successor of Pope Francis.”

Each person who signs up for the pontifical campaign will be assigned to pray for one of the 135 cardinal electors participating in the upcoming conclave. The prayer initiative will share the cardinal’s name, birthplace, and birthday. 

“Please take that cardinal to every one of your prayers because, as each of these cardinals has been saying to us, they are depending on the prayers of the entire Church,” Landry said. 

Only cardinals under the age of 80 are voting members in the conclave — but Landry noted that “the selection of a pope is not just the act of cardinals under 80.”  

“It’s the act of the entire mystical body of Christ — you and me too,” Landry said.  

“So please help us help them through joining this prayer campaign,” Landry concluded.  

The prayer itself is simple: “Heavenly Father, guide the cardinals in wisdom and love as they may lead your Church. May your will be their compass. Amen.”

To adopt a cardinal in prayer, visit here.

Canada’s prime minister and Liberal Party leader Mark Carney applauds at a victory party in Ottawa, Ontario, on April 29, 2025. Prime Minister Mark Carney won Canada’s election on April 28, 2025, leading his Liberal Party to a new term in power. / Credit: DAVE CHAN/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 29, 2025 / 11:57 am (CNA).

Canadians voted Monday to elect the Liberal Party back into power, making the party’s leader, Mark Carney, prime minister of Canada following a tight race against Conservative Party challenger Pierre Poilievre and a campaign in which tariff policies by the Trump administration loomed large.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) projected the victory for Carney approximately 15 minutes after the polls closed on Monday evening, Associated Press reported, marking a dramatic turnaround for the Liberal Party, which was not favored to win earlier in the run-up to the election after over nine years of leadership under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Carney, a former central banker, will continue on as prime minister after the win, taking on the role last month when Trudeau resigned. According to the BBC, the Liberal Party is projected to win 168 seats in Parliament but needs 172 to form a majority government.

While Carney is a practicing Catholic, he dissents from the Church’s teaching on abortion. On the campaign trail he stated that his faith would not lead him to interfere in “a woman’s right to choose,” which he has said he supports “absolutely, unreservedly.”

For his part, Poilievre also stated leading up to the election that his party would not pass laws restricting abortion.

In the run-up to the election, Bishop William McGrattan, president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, told EWTN News that Carney’s position is symptomatic of the “disconnect” that is seen among many of the country’s politicians who claim to be living according to their faith.

In advance of the election, the nation’s bishops’ conference released a statement in which it noted “there are many issues which we, as Catholics, are called to consider thoroughly when voting. Among them is the fundamental right to life — from conception to natural death. This right is being undermined by the lack of legal protection for the unborn, the ongoing expansion of eligibility for medical assistance in dying (MAID), and the insufficient access to quality palliative care for those who are suffering at the end of life.”

On the subject of MAID, McGrattan told EWTN News correspondent Mark Irons that “we want to make sure that the politicians are aware of the fact that we do not want this to be expanded in terms of eligibility and even to consider repealing some of the laws that they put in place.”

During the campaign, Carney remained largely silent on the subject of assisted suicide, while Poilievre stated that he would neither prevent nor expand access to the practice.

“All these leaders, none of them are willing to champion the right to life,” Matthew Wojciechowski, the vice president of Campaign Life Coalition, told Irons. Wojciechowski said he had been encouraging Catholics to focus on their individual members of Parliament, as some Conservatives do hold pro-life views.

Following Trudeau’s resignation amid the country’s major economic crisis, polling had suggested that the Conservative Party led by Poilievre would overtake the beleaguered Liberal Party. However, the Liberal Party began to surge ahead in wake of the Trump administration’s tariffs and calls to make Canada the 51st state.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin (left) and other cardinals celebrate Mass on Day 3 of the Novendiales Masses for Pope Francis on April 28, 2025, in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican City, Apr 29, 2025 / 11:08 am (CNA).

The College of Cardinals held their sixth general congregation on Tuesday morning, confirming two cardinal electors will not participate in the upcoming May 7 conclave due to health reasons. 

The general congregation opened with prayer at 9 a.m. followed by a meditation given by Abbot Donato Ogliari, OSB. One hundred eighty-three cardinals, including more than 120 cardinal electors, were present at the more than three-hour meeting held in the Vatican’s Synod Hall. A total of 20 speeches were given.

Following the April 29 meeting, Matteo Bruni, the director of the Holy See Press Office, said during an afternoon press briefing that the names of the two cardinals would not be revealed, adding that the number of cardinal electors present in Rome for the conclave may vary until the last minute and cannot yet be confirmed.

During the press briefing, Bruni told journalists the main themes of the speeches delivered on Tuesday revolved around “the challenges the Church is facing, according to the geographical perspective of the cardinals’ origins.” 

In his meditation addressed to the cardinals, Ogliari said “the mission of the Church must face numerous challenges” in a time of “epochal change” disrupting “the world order” in geopolitics and rapid technological change.

“In a few days’ time you will gather to choose from among yourselves the bishop of Rome and pastor of the universal Church. May [the conclave] be transformed into the ‘upper room’ in which, as in a renewed Pentecost, the fire of the Holy Spirit may break in,” he said. 

“Even if the place of the ‘conclave’ — as the term itself says — is a locked place, it will in reality be wide open to the whole world, if the freedom of the Spirit prevails, which, when it touches hearts and minds, rejuvenates, purifies, recreates,” the Benedictine abbott said toward the conclusion of the meditation. 

The Holy See Press Office also released a statement on behalf of the College of Cardinals on Tuesday in which the prelates expressed their heartfelt gratitude to all those who attended Pope Francis’ funeral held in St. Peter’s Square on April 26.

In the message, the cardinals thanked Catholic and non-Catholic leaders and delegations as well “representatives of Judaism, Islam, and other religions,” present at the late pontiff’s funeral. 

A special greeting was extended to the thousands of young pilgrims who were in Rome for the April 25–27 Jubilee of Teenagers who show “the face of a Church alive with the life of her risen Lord.”

The college also shared its gratitude to government and civil leaders for their “solidarity” with the Church during its time of mourning.

“Their [presence] was particularly appreciated as participation in the suffering of the Church and the Holy See at the passing of the pontiff, and as homage to his unceasing commitment to promote the faith, peace, and fraternity among all the peoples of the earth,” the statement read. 

Haitian Cardinal Chibly Langlois (left) and Spanish Cardinal Sebastian Aguilar arrive at the Synod Hall for the third day of the synod on the themes of family on Oct. 8, 2014, in Vatican City. / Credit: Franco Origlia/Getty Images

Vatican City, Apr 29, 2025 / 09:41 am (CNA).

Cardinal Chibly Langlois, bishop of Les Cayes, will be the first Haitian prelate in the Church’s history to participate and vote in a papal conclave.

Following the death of Pope Francis, Langlois released a statement honoring the life and ministry of the Argentine pontiff who “showed special attention to Haiti” through his words and actions.

“Throughout his pontificate, he embodied a concrete spirituality founded on mercy, listening, and solidarity,” the cardinal wrote on April 22. “He made the Gospel a living invitation to console hearts and inspire actions in favor of the most vulnerable.”

“In a world plagued by injustice and suffering, he put faith at the service of everyday life, reminding everyone that the light of God is revealed in the care of each person, particularly the most deprived,” he added.

He is one of two cardinal electors representing Caribbean countries who will participate in the conclave to commence on May 7. Cuban Cardinal Juan García Rodríguez, archbishop of Havana, will also participate in the upcoming conclave to vote for the universal Church’s 267th pontiff.

Since being elevated as a cardinal by Pope Francis on Feb. 22, 2014, Langlois has served as a member of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, and the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

Langlois received his episcopal ordination on June 6, 2004, two months after Pope John Paul II chose him to be the head of the Diocese of Fort-Liberté that same year. His episcopal motto is “Servire Cum Caritate” (“To Serve with Charity”).

In 2011, the 66-year-old prelate was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Les Cayes by Pope Benedict XVI. From 2011 to 2017, he served as president of the Episcopal Conference of Haiti.

In October 2014, Haiti’s first and only cardinal was one of 114 bishops’ conference presidents invited to participate in the Vatican’s Third Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on “the pastoral challenges of the family in the context of evangelization.”

Born on Nov. 29, 1958, in La Vallée, Haiti, Langlois joined the seminary in 1985 and obtained a bachelor of arts degree in theology from the Grand Séminaire Notre-Dame in Port-au-Prince. He was ordained a priest on Sept. 22, 1991, for the Diocese of Jacmel.

From 1994 to 1996, Langlois continued his studies in Rome at the Pontifical Lateran University and was awarded a license in pastoral theology with his dissertation titled “La nouvelle évangélisation, oeuvre d’inculturation en Haïti” (“The New Evangelization, a Work of Inculturation in Haiti”).

Following the devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti in January 2010, Langlois gained recognition among local Church leaders for his dedicated efforts to spiritually and materially assist the poor and vulnerable of his country.

After a 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit Haiti in August 2021, Langlois spoke out about the social inequalities affecting the Caribbean nation’s population in a webinar hosted by Caritas Internationalis.

“The people of Haiti are suffering, believe me,” Langlois said in the Sept. 21, 2021, webinar. “Wherever you look around the country — where poverty is rife, where violence is spreading, where catastrophes take place — the Church is present and the Church is a first responder.”

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he hosts the annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House on April 21, 2025, in Washington, D.C. / Credit: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

CNA Staff, Apr 29, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

U.S. President Donald Trump’s approval ratings are significantly higher among Christians than among the religiously unaffiliated, according to a poll by Pew Research released to coincide with Trump’s first 100 days in office. 

Trump’s approval rating continues to be highest among white evangelical Protestants, while Catholics are almost split at 42%, according to the poll.

Across the board, Christians gave Trump a higher approval rating than nonaffiliated Americans by more than 20 percentage points (48% versus 26%, respectively). 

The approval rating for President Donald Trump among Christians is also 8 points higher than among U.S. adults overall.

Among Christians, white evangelical Protestants had the highest approval rating of Trump at 72%. Black Protestants had the lowest approval rating of the current president at 10%.  

Trump’s overall approval rating with white Catholics was significantly higher than with Hispanic Catholics, standing at 52% and 26%, respectively. 

Pew surveyed more than 3,500 U.S. adults from April 7–13 for the poll. 

Policies and ethics  

Forty-three percent of Christians found the Trump administration’s ethical standards were “excellent” or “good.”

When asked about the ethical standards of top Trump administration officials, about 7 in 10 white evangelicals rated them as “excellent” or “good.” Nearly half of white Catholics and a quarter of Hispanic Catholics agreed. 

About half of Christians approved of the Trump administration’s action to end diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies and its budget cuts to federal departments, while 46% approved of the substantially increased tariffs on imports.

For these various Trump administration policies, approval rating points among Catholics sit in the 40s. 

Overall, 43% of Catholics approved of the Trump administration’s anti-DEI action; 47% approved of federal department funding cuts; and 41% approved of increased tariffs.

More than half of white Catholics surveyed (54%) said they approved of the anti-DEI initiative, while a large majority of Hispanic Catholics (69%) disapproved. 

In addition, 55% of white Catholics approved of cuts to federal departments and agencies while 65% of Hispanic Catholics disapproved. 

Another 70% of Hispanic Catholics disapproved of the increased tariffs, while 49% of white Catholics approved.

Across the various categories, Catholics do not vary from U.S. adults by more than 3 percentage points.

Trend now downward

This month Trump’s approval ratings dropped by 7% among U.S. adults overall, according to Pew. 

The drop comes in the wake of the Trump administration implementing a surge of tariffs on various foreign imports.  

Trump’s approval ratings dropped by 1 percentage point more among white Catholics than it did among the religiously nonaffiliated. 

The president’s approval rating declined within several categories among Christians. Among white Catholics and Black Protestants, his approval ratings had an 8-point drop. Among white evangelicals and the religiously nonaffiliated, it dropped by 6 and 7 points, respectively.

A view of the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel on Oct. 29, 2014. / Credit: Bohumil Petrik/CNA

CNA Staff, Apr 29, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Pope Francis, who died April 21 at age 88, was laid to rest at the Basilica of St. Mary Major following his funeral on April 26. 

As the world continues to mourn the late pope during the nine-day period known as “Novendiales” (also rendered “Novemdiales”), preparations are underway for the highly-regulated conclave process, which is the means by which a new pope is elected for the Church. 

Here’s what you need to know about what will happen next.

Setting the stage: Who can take part in the conclave?

The task of electing the new pope falls solely upon the members of the College of Cardinals who are younger than age 80 and otherwise eligible or able to participate, of which there are currently 134. 

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, 91, is the current dean of the College of Cardinals, i.e., the most senior member, elected from among the ranks of the cardinal bishops and confirmed by the pope. Normally, it would be Re’s job to move the conclave process forward once it gets underway. 

Re is too old to take part in the conclave, however, as is his vice dean, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri. So the upcoming conclave will be directed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the next eligible most senior cardinal bishop and the Vatican’s secretary of state.

May 7: The conclave begins

The conclave system was formalized in 1274, and its procedures are spelled out in great detail in the 1996 apostolic constitution Universi Dominici Gregis of Pope John Paul II, which was amended slightly by Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis.

Normally, the day on which the conclave begins is to be the 15th day after the death of a pope, the 16th day of the interregnum (which just means the period between popes). It can begin up to the 20th day “for serious reasons,” or earlier than the 15th day if all the cardinals are present. 

The Holy See Press Office announced Monday that the conclave will begin on the morning of May 7, with the Holy Mass for the Election of the Roman Pontiff in St. Peter’s Basilica. 

That afternoon, the cardinals — only the electors — will make their entrance into the Sistine Chapel, chanting the “Veni Creator Spiritus,” invoking the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Once inside, each cardinal will take an oath to observe the procedures, maintain secrecy, and vote freely for the candidate he believes most worthy.

When the last of the cardinal electors has taken the oath, the master of papal liturgical celebrations, Archbishop Diego Ravelli, will give the order “Extra omnes” (“Everyone out”), indicating that all those not taking part in the conclave must leave the Sistine Chapel. 

Other than the cardinals, the only people allowed to remain in the chapel are the master of papal liturgical celebrations and a clergy member chosen to preach a meditation to the cardinals. After the meditation is given, he and the master of papal liturgical celebrations will leave the chapel (though the master of papal liturgical celebrations will need to be readmitted several times during the process, particularly when a vote is about to happen). 

The chapel doors will then be closed to the outside world until a new pope is chosen.

How does it work once the cardinals are inside?

The cardinals must swear to absolute secrecy both during and after the conclave process, and great care must be taken to ensure the Sistine Chapel has not been bugged. Whenever they leave the chapel — such as for meals and to sleep — the cardinals are not allowed to discuss anything about what took place in the chapel.

Inside the locked chapel, votes are taken among the cardinals once on the first afternoon session, and twice on each morning and afternoon session for each day of the conclave.

The ballot papers all bear the words “Eligo in summum pontificem” (“I elect as supreme pontiff”), above a space for the cardinals to write a name. During the vote, cardinals individually approach Michelangelo’s painting of the Last Judgment, profess an oath in Latin, and drop their ballot into a large urn.

This is the oath that the cardinals pray as they vote:

“I call as my witness Christ the Lord, who will be my judge, that my vote is given to the one who before God I think should be elected.”

Three randomly designated cardinals, known as scrutineers, then tabulate the results in front of the assembly. First, they count the ballots, and if the number of ballots doesn’t match the number of electors, they are burned immediately and a new vote is taken. 

If the number of ballots is correct, the three scrutineers read each ballot, the last of the three reading the name aloud and writing it down. Each elector also writes down the running result on a sheet provided for this purpose. Each ballot, after it is counted, is pierced with a needle and placed on a thread for security.

Another three randomly selected cardinal electors, the revisers, check the ballot count and the notes of the scrutineers to ensure the tabulation of the ballots was carried out exactly and faithfully.

Three additional cardinal electors are randomly chosen as “infirmarii,” whose job it is to assist any electors who, although within the enclosure of the conclave, are too sick to be present in the Sistine Chapel. The infirmarii take with them a locked box that, having been shown to the other electors to be empty, receives the votes of the infirm. They then return it unopened to the scrutineers.

A Catholic man needs two-thirds of the votes — in the present case, 90 votes — to be elected the next pope. Looking at the record of the last century of conclaves shows that the college elects a new pope, on average, by the afternoon of the third day, after about eight ballots.

The new pope

When a voting session concludes without a man reaching the required majority, the ballots are burned with wet straw, causing black smoke to emanate from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel. However, if a pope is elected, the ballots are burned with the addition of a chemical agent, producing the famous white smoke. 

Before that happens, however, there is a process that must be followed once a man receives the required number of votes. 

After the junior cardinal deacon has readmitted the secretary of the college and the master of papal liturgical ceremonies, the cardinal dean, or the cardinal who is first in order and seniority, goes to the one elected and asks:

“Do you accept your canonical election as supreme pontiff?”

With consent he becomes bishop of Rome and the pope (thus ending the conclave, unless the new pope decides to keep it in session for some reason). The cardinal dean then asks:

“By what name do you wish to be called?”

The master of papal liturgical ceremonies, with the witness of the two masters of ceremonies (who are now summoned), then will draw up a document certifying the consent of the man elected and the name he has chosen.

The new pope spends a few moments in a room off the Sistine Chapel known as the Room of Tears, where he is dressed in his white papal vestments. Each cardinal then comes forward in turn and makes an act of homage and obedience to the new pope. An act of thanksgiving to God is then made. 

The senior cardinal deacon announces from the loggia of St. Peter’s to those gathered in St. Peter’s Square: “Habemus papam!” (“We have a pope!”) and what name he has taken. The newly elected pope then comes out to address and bless the city and the world (“urbi et orbi”).

Cardinal Angelo Becciu. / Credit: Claude Truong Ngoc, CC BY SA 40 via Wikimedia Commons

Vatican City, Apr 29, 2025 / 04:36 am (CNA).

The College of Cardinals announced Monday, April 28, that the conclave to elect Pope Francis’ successor will begin on May 7, as the Church enters the final preparatory phase for choosing its 267th pope.

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