VATICAN CITY (RNS) — As the conclave to elect a new pope began Wednesday (May 7), the horde of journalists and other professional Vatican observers has fastened on a comment by the 91-year-old dean of the College of Cardinals, Giovanni Battista Re, asking whether he may have tipped his hand about his own expectations for the outcome of the election.
During the sign of the peace at the final Mass before the cardinal electors sequester themselves in the Sistine Chapel, Re, who is too old to vote in the conclave, gripped papal front-runner Cardinal Pietro Parolin’s shoulders and was caught on a microphone saying in Italian, “auguri e doppi,” which could mean either “congratulations twice” or “best wishes twice.”
Re, who said the funeral Mass for Pope Francis 11 days earlier, gave the homily at the service in St. Peter’s Basilica known as Pro Eligendo Pontifice (For the Election of the Pontiff). He weighed in on the two poles of unity and diversity, which in debates on the future of the church have come to represent the split between conservative and progressive views.
In his homily, Re said the readings issued “a strong call to maintain the unity of the church on the path traced out by Christ to the apostles,” recognizing the cardinals who want a new pope to counter the division — some say “confusion” — they believe Francis introduced by welcoming dissenting voices.
But Re also admonished the traditionalists that the conclave must aspire to a “unity that does not mean uniformity, but a firm and profound communion in diversity, provided that full fidelity to the gospel is maintained.”
In a break from the last two Masses preceding the conclaves in 2005 and 2013, Re did not mention the previous pontiff by name in his homily, only mentioning Pope John Paul II’s comment on the cardinals’ responsibility to put the pontificate in “the right hands.”
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re celebrates a final Mass with cardinals inside St. Peter’s Basilica, before the conclave to elect a new pope, at the Vatican, Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Re instructed the cardinals to pray that they would be led to pick a pope “who knows how best to awaken the consciences of all and the moral and spiritual energies in today’s society,” a nod to the cardinals’ discussions about evangelization, as well as the church’s engagement on social issues, during the general congregations.
He also noted, “Today’s world expects much from the church regarding the safeguarding of those fundamental human and spiritual values without which human coexistence will not be better nor bring good to future generations.”
After the Mass, the cardinals were allowed to break for lunch until the afternoon meeting at the Pauline Chapel to pray.
Wednesday afternoon was the last time that advocacy groups had the chance to attempt to influence cardinals on their way into the conclave.
Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests held one last press conference highlighting their Conclave Watch effort, which has added seven more cardinal profiles, including several rumored papabili, criticizing their handling of sexual abuse cases. Repeating a similar protest tactic from the last two conclaves, the Women’s Ordination Conference released pink smoke in a plaza about a mile from the Vatican in a call for “women’s full equality in the Catholic church.”
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, center, greets Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo during a final Mass celebrated by cardinals inside St. Peter’s Basilica, before the conclave to elect a new pope, at the Vatican, May 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
“We ask that the next pope will accept the vocation of women for ordained ministry,” said Kate McElwee, the organization’s executive director, at a webinar on May 2. She said the “all-male conclave” was a clear example of the unfinished work of Francis’ Synod on Synodality, which offered women a greater place in church decision-making.
From there, Parolin, as the most senior cardinal bishop, led the procession to the Sistine Chapel. An appeal to the Christian martyrs, popes and other divines, the Litany of Saints, was sung, followed by the Latin chant “Veni Creator Spiritus,” calling on the Holy Spirit to assist in selecting the next pope.
Once in the Sistine Chapel, the cardinals took a solemn oath not to divulge any discussion that takes place in the chapel, under the penalty of automatic excommunication.
Then the master of ceremonies, Monsignor Diego Ravelli, finally uttered the words “extra omnes,” the Latin words meaning “all out.” At that point everyone who is not voting had to leave, with the exception of Ravelli and Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, a Capuchin Franciscan and preacher of the papal household for the last three popes.
Tables and chairs line the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican in preparation for the conclave in early May 2025. (Photo © Vatican Media)
At 90 years old, Cantalamessa is too old to enter the conclave with the electors — and with only about four years under his belt as a cardinal, he has never experienced the weight of the decision that the electors will face in the Sistine Chapel — but the cardinal will draw on 45 years of preaching experience at the Vatican to give the electors one last piece of advice before they lose access to outside opinions. Afterward, he and Ravelli left the Sistine Chapel, shutting the doors behind them.
In a state of complete silence, the cardinals will cast their first vote in the conclave. The first smoke to be seen exiting from the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel is expected to occur around 7 p.m. in Rome. If no one is elected Wednesday, the cardinals will vote as many as two times in the morning on Thursday and, if needed, twice in the afternoon. Onlookers in St. Peter’s Square will be watching for smoke to emerge from the chimney installed atop the Sistine Chapel between 10:30 in the morning and noon and between 5:30 and 7 in the evening.