Scottish Catholic Observer

ALL eyes have been on the Vatican this week as the conclave began to elect Pope Benedict XVI’s successor.

The world was still waiting for its Pope on Wednesday morning, as the SCO went to press, after the third vote of the cardinal electors resulted in black smoke coming from the Sistine Chapel chimney.

The first three ballots, one on Tuesday night and two on Wednesday morning, did not result in a conclusive majority vote.

It is widely held that the next leader of the Catholic Church will be among the 115 cardinals who made their way in to the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel on Tuesday afternoon.

The first vote in the Papal conclave, which was prompted by Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation last month, took place at 7pm GMT and a large crowd gathered in a wet St Peter’s Square to see the result. However, at 6.41pm black smoke was seen above the Sistine Chapel, indicating the first ballot had not produced a Pope.

On Tuesday morning, a Mass to mark the beginning of the conclave was celebrated at St Peter’s Basilica, Italian Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, presided at the Mass at which the cardinal electors, as well as those cardinals over the age of 80 (and thus unable to vote in the conclave) concelebrated.

The celebration was open to all the Faithful who wished to attend as well as members of the diplomatic corps of the 179 countries with which the Holy See maintains ties.

Speaking in his homily, Cardinal Sodano asked the cardinal electors to work together to contribute to the unity of the Church. He also spoke of the importance of charity, asking the cardinals to ‘ceaselessly work to promote Justice and Peace.’

At 2.45pm, following lunch, the cardinal electors made their way from the Apostolic Palace to the Sistine Chapel.

In their procession, they sang Veni Creator Spiritus, invoking the assistance of the Holy Spirit.

Prior to the conclave beginning, the cardinal electors took an oath in which they promised to maintain the secrecy of the proceedings.

“It is hard to know when a new Pope will be elected,” Professor Haldane said. “Prior to entering into the formal conclave, the cardinals have already had several days of collective discussion, before which they had plenty of opportunity, since the announcement of Pope Benedict’s abdication, for informal exchanges. In addition, while no discussion takes place during the voting within the Sistine Chapel they can talk over the business at other points during the days and evenings so it may be that things move fairly speedily and there is an outcome in the next couple of days.”

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–        This story was reported in full in the March 15 print edition of the SCO.