The eyes of 1.4 billion Catholics are fixed on the Vatican City as 132 cardinals started on Monday arriving in Rome to prepare to elect a new Pope
The Conclave – the ancient and tightly choreographed ritual to elect a new pontiff – begins Wednesday, with white smoke set to signal the moment the Church has a new leader.
They will begin moving into the Vatican accommodation on Tuesday where they will stay during the conclave.
The group normally stay in the Vatican’s Santa Marta guesthouse, which has en-suite bathrooms and hotel-style room service, but there are not enough rooms for them all.
In the meantime, the Vatican is awash with purple-robed prelates, hushed speculation, and tightened security.
On Monday afternoon, Vatican News confirmed that 170 Cardinals, including 132 with the right to vote, participated in the 11th General Congregation – a high-level pre-conclave meeting.
According to Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni, key themes included the faith of migrants, ethnocentrism, ongoing conflicts across Asia and Africa, and the Church’s future in a fractured world.
‘The cardinals outlined the figure of a pastoral Pope,’ Bruni noted, ‘with a focus on dialogue and building relationships.’
The cardinal-electors will do the same Wednesday before casting their first votes under Michelangelo’s famed frescoes.
Bruni initially said on Monday that cardinals would be asked to leave their mobile phones at their Vatican residence, Santa Marta, but that they wouldn’t be confiscated.
But hours later, at an evening briefing, he said that they would hand their phones over at Santa Marta and only get them back at the end of the conclave.
The Vatican also plans to use signal jamming around the Sistine Chapel and the residences to prevent electronic surveillance or communication outside the conclave, with the Vatican gendarmes overseeing the security measures.
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