Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan from New York has some advice for cardinals who are about to experience their first conclave.
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“Bring a book,” he said in an interview on Tuesday afternoon, while the cardinals took their bags to move to Casa Santa Marta, the guesthouse of Vatican, true dozens of cardinals stay during The conclaveThe process of selecting the next leader of the Catholic Church.
“I do,” said Cardinal Dolan, “because there is usually silence in the conclave.”
When the cardinals meet for the conclave, they gather in the Sixtine Chapel. All cardinal voters must take an oath of confidentiality and vote by secret mood. The cardinals released repeated votes until there is a two -thirds majority and the next pope has been selected.
The voice process can take an hour or two every time, so there is a lot of waiting while each cardinal fills in its mood and submits in an extensive ritual to ensure that there are no election violations, he said.
“It’s not like you’re on the edge of the chair and see them all doing that,” said Cardinal Dolan, who attended the conclave that Paus Francis chosen in 2013.
He brings a biography of Michelangelo, who felt appropriate, because he will be surrounded by some masterpieces by the artist, including ‘The Last Judgement’, which displays the second arrival of Christ and covered the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel.
Cardinal Dolan said he had top candidates for Pontiff in mind, men whose writing and work he has studied.
“You want to see a man who speaks well, you are looking for a language capacity. It would be very difficult for someone who didn’t know enough Italian,” he said. “If you don’t know the difference between Carbonara and Tagliatelle, you’re in trouble. It would be very difficult for someone who only Knows Italian, because you are also a universal pastor. ‘
As he spoke, he looked down on St. Peter’s Basilica from the roof terrace of the Pontifical North American College.
“I think it will be longer than last time,” he said, referring to the process that Pope Francis selected, which lasted two days. He said he had taken 12 packs of peanut butter, thinking that it would be enough for him to eat three a day while he was sestred. “So you think that,” he said about mathematics.
The meetings that were held before the conclave are ‘strenuous’, he said, with ‘one cardinal after the other’ to speak.
Cardinal Dolan said that the cardinals had shared their concern about what they see as challenges for Christians in Islamic countries; In countries with oppressive governments; In regions without enough Catholic priests; Or where religious freedom is suppressed.
“Think of the cardinal from Sudan. Think of the cardinals from the Holy Land,” he said.
One cardinal was grateful that Francis had traveled around the world, he said, while another said that the next pope might have to stay largely in the Vatican and bring cardinals to meet him there.
“One of the cardinals said: I love Pope Francis, and I am grateful for his 12 years. But we are here to choose Peter’s successor, not Francis’s successor,” he said, referring to St. PeterThe first pope. “That is of course true. We have to remember that.”
The old and extensive rituals of the conclave can be mystifying for those who look from far. But new cardinals “will also say, we don’t really know the rituals and the protocol, we don’t even know what to wear,” he said. “They are so honest and they are so fresh.”
After a morning mass on Wednesday, the cardinals are expected to go back to Casa Santa Marta, unpack and have lunch. The accommodation and kitchen are relatively easy. “The food is not that good,” said Cardinal Dolan.
The process is also extremely mysterious, so much even that with the last conclave even the blinds of the windows of Cardinal Dolan were closed so that no one could see in or out.
Vatican city is closed and the cardinals are delegated, but they have a doctor and a confessional available: “If we need help with body or soul,” he said.
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