#conclave

The Sistine Chapel, taken from the top of St Peter's Dome

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The city of Rome is beginning to prepare for the next conclave, even though the official date when this important meeting will begin is still unknown. This morning, at the Vatican, the cardinals had their first reunion in order to make all the necessary decisions for the preparation of the conclave. In the meantime, more and more journalists and reporters, as well as pilgrims, continue to arrive in the Eternal City. Many persons are anxious and curious to know who will the next pope be.  I can understand how during this time of “sede vacante” and of initial meetings by the college of cardinals arouses the desire in many to find out which cardinal will be chosen as successor of St. Peter.

The discussions on the next pope did not begin this week though, nor last week. Some Vatican experts in the media and on-line blogs began to write about this topic just a few hours, if not minutes, after Benedict XVI publicly announced his resignation back on February 11th. Our last Pope had barely shared his decision and the following days the attention of these influential writers turned to the speculation of possible successors. I do not think that writing on that topic was the best choice at the moment.  I am not saying that having presented to the public the highly “papabile” cardinals is a sin. These experts, however, gave in to the interests of their curious audiences which was to me a distraction from the beautiful events of the last days of the last pontificate. They took advantage of Benedict’s silent retreat two weeks ago to save time on this topic and introduce it. These men with thousands of readers began to write about a possible successor when the pope to be succeeded was still pope. To me, this is similar to the situation in which people talk about inheritance from a person that is still alive.

According to me, the speculations and the discussions on the next pope should’ve begun last Friday when the “sede vacante” was official. Talking about the “papabile” is appropriate now. What no Catholic should forget though is that nobody will know who the next pope will be until the end of the conclave, until we see white smoke coming from the Sistine chapel.  We should never forget that ultimately the choice will come from the Holy Spirit, as we all believe.