Following Pope Francis’s tragic death, a gaping void fills in the Catholic Community. For 12 years, his humanitarian aid and teachings of caring for the poor have served as stark contrasts to his predecessors. Nevertheless, it now comes time to elect the next leader of the Church, in the solitary practice of the Conclave.
The 2025 Conclave began on April 7th, 2025. The normal steps of a Conclave include a solitary period for all the eligible Cardinals (younger than 80), in which their communication stream to the outside world is cut off while they stay in the Sistine Chapel. The Cardinals are sequestered to live in the Chapel and under oath to prohibit contact with the outside world. For example, at the start of the Conclave, the communication services from each of the cardinals’ phones were signalled to preserve the integrity of the vote. Then, the voting will commence. The voting continues until ⅔ of the Cardinal Population favors one candidate, which in this year’s election is 89 votes. As the day rolls to a close, and the majority vote has not occurred, black smoke will rise from the Sistine’s chimney, alerting the public that the voting was inconclusive. The voting will continue until the ⅔ majority is reached with a maximum of 4 ballots per day; 2 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. When that ⅔ majority is reached, white smoke will then rise from the chimney signaling the beginning of a new chapter for the church.
Habemus Papum!
We have a pope! Cardinal Robert Prevost, the first American pope in the Church’s history, became Pope Leo IX on April 8th. With his roots in Chicago, his new papacy is generating huge support from the American people. He spent his childhood in Chicago with a devout and faithful family, then moved to Peru to start his missionary work. He became an important figure in Peruvian society, leading to his status as a dual citizen. As a faithful member of the Augustinian Order, he led them for over a decade. He is also the first Pope to have Haitian and Creole roots. The Pope graduated from Villanova University with a mathematics degree, then moved to studying theology at the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago. In 2015, he was appointed bishop of Peru by the Vatican. Pope Leo chooses to align some of his beliefs, like the acknowledgment of marginalized groups, with the Late Pope Francis, but he is also seen as conservative regarding the Church Doctrine. It is said he chose the name “Leo” as it refers to Leo the Great, as he was a great intellectual and theological reformer in his time, as the new Pope hopes to bring that to light in his new papacy.
