The conclave to elect the successor of Pope Francis will start on May 7, announced the Vatican on Monday following a meeting on camera of the Cardinaux to the Vatican, the first since the funeral of François on Saturday.
The secret conclave, in which around 130 cardinals from around the world meet in the Sistine Chapel to elect the next leader of the Catholic Church already invites a real drama worthy of a film.
Italian journalists asked the Vatican officials on Monday if the Italian cardinal Angelo Becciu, who was found guilty of financial crimes by the Vatican – and was once one of his most powerful figures – will participate in the procedure.
Although Becciu was ordered by Pope Francis in 2020 to renounce his “rights and privileges” as a cardinal after being involved in a financial scandal of the Vatican involving a several million dollars investment in luxury real estate in London which cost the holy losses of 150 million dollars, the condemned cardinal claims that he has the right to participate in the Conclave, Never was officially deleting the college of the right to participate in the conclusion because it has never been officially deleted from the college. Even after being found guilty by a Vatican courtyard, Becciu maintained his innocence and appealed his conviction.
The case was discussed on Monday by the cardinals at the closing meeting, but there was “no resolution,” said the Vatican.
Interestingly, 108 of cardinal voters were chosen by Francis and largely reflect his vision of a more inclusive church. A majority of two thirds is necessary to elect a new pope.
As for which the leading pontor must be the next pontiff, there are several names which are being trivialized, one being the Italian cardinal Matteo Zuppi who is president of the episcopal conference of Italy.
But Christopher Lamb, who is the correspondent of the Vatican of CNN, said Variety At the end of last week, the race is still very open and highlighted the fact that the origin of the papal contenders changed.
“Some of them come from parts of the world who had never had cardinals before; it is very internationalized. You have the Cardinals of Tonga, Haiti, Central Africa, in Mongolia. I think there is a lot of unpredictability,” he said.
As in the film by Edward Berger “Conclave”, with Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci, during the Conclave voters are maintained isolated from foreigners for the duration and the observers keep closely the chimney of the Sistine Chapel to find out if a new Pope was elected after each voting round. If the smoke is black, the consensus has not been reached. When the new pope was chosen, the smoke is white and the bells are also sound. During the last conclave, in 2013, Francis was elected in two days.
The death of Pope Francis on April 21 led to a wave of people who looked at the “conclave” of shepherd at home, as Variety reported. The film was also reissued in theater in Italy last week.
