In little over an hour, the cardinal electors will make their way to the Sistine Chapel, and then the waiting game begins. While this conclave will likely not take too long, even if there is no really clear candidate who can immediately command 77 votes, the hours of today and tomorrow will no doubt crawl by.
So, while we wait, why not heed Cardinal Eijk’s request, obviously made yesterday, to pray:
“In the past ten days the cardinals have been intensely preparing themselves in Rome for the coming conclave. Through the thousands of journalists who are present here in Rome, the world is united with us. And we feel that unity with the world. On the eve of this conclave I would therefore like to ask the faithful in the Netherlands to pray for the cardinals who, starting tomorrow, will elect the bishop of Rome. Pray that we, filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, may choose a good shepherd for the Church.”
Whether from the Netherlands or elsewhere, prayer must be our first priority, well before any consideration of who is papabile and who isn’t and what Pope we would like to see.
In Caelo et in Terra 