By Agence France-Presse
Catholic cardinals agreed on Monday, April 28, to begin a conclave on May 7 to elect a new pope and highlighted clerical sexual abuse as one of the key challenges facing Pope Francis’ successor.
Cardinals under the age of 80 will meet in the Sistine Chapel to choose a new leader for the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics in a mystery-shrouded ritual dating back to the Middle Ages.
The date was decided at a meeting of cardinals of all ages, two days after the funeral of Francis, who died on April 21, aged 88.
The cardinals, known as “Princes of the Church”, outlined Catholicism’s most pressing challenges, including “evangelization, the relationship with other faiths, (and) the issue of abuse,” the Vatican said.
“There was talk of the qualities that the new pontiff must possess to respond effectively to these challenges,” it added.
The Church’s 252 cardinals were recalled to Rome after the Argentine pontiff’s death, although only 135 are eligible to vote in the conclave.
They hail from all corners of the globe, and many of them do not know each other. But they already had four meetings last week, in so-called “general congregations”, where they began to become better acquainted.
‘Fraternal’ atmosphere
Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, 83, a former head of the Italian bishops’ conference, said there was a “beautiful fraternal atmosphere.”
“Of course, there may be some difficulties because the voters have never been so numerous and not everyone knows each other,” he told Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper.
On Monday, April 28, the Vatican closed the Sistine Chapel, where voting will take place under Michelangelo’s 16th-century ceiling frescoes, to begin preparations.
So far there are few clues as to whom the cardinals might choose.
Sacred obligation
Francis’ successor will inherit a series of measures he introduced to combat clerical sexual abuse. But victims’ associations say he did not do enough, and the scandals show no sign of abating.
Anne Barrett Doyle from BishopAccountability.org told AFP the abuse archive “applaud(s) the acknowledgement by the cardinals that ending the abuse crisis must be a priority”.
“The Church worldwide, through its parishes, schools, hospitals and orphanages, cares for tens of millions of children. The next pope’s most sacred obligation must be to protect them”, she said.
The challenge is significant. In many African and Asian countries, the subject remains taboo. Even in Europe, Italy has yet to launch an independent investigation into abuse allegations.
The vote is highly secretive and follows strict rules and ceremonial procedures. The process could take several days or potentially longer.
There are four votes per day — two each in the morning and afternoon — until one candidate secures a two-thirds majority. Fewer than half of those eligible to vote are European.
Italian pensioner Emilia Greco said she hoped “all the doors that Pope Francis opened — to hope, to those marginalised, to the poor… can be kept open and expanded, (to create) a truly inclusive Church”.
