At 10 o’clock this morning the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Angelo Sodano, will celebrate the Missa pro Eligendo Romano Pontifice on St. Peter’s Square, if my sources are correct. Eight years ago the Dean’s name was Joseph Ratzinger and this last mass before the Conclave gave him a chance to deliver a programmatic homily on relativism, which is believed to have clinched his election for many of his fellow Cardinals. We cannot expect a similar sensation this year, what with Angelo Sodano being 85 years old, but this should be an opportunity for all those who can watch the mass on television or via the internet, and also for those merely able to spare a thought for what is going on in Rome, to pray for the 115 men who during the next few days will have the unenviable task of discerning the will of the Holy Spirit for the Church and delivering us our next Pope, and also for that man – whoever he may be – whom they elect and who will take on this superhuman burden for the sake of God and humankind.
In the late afternoon the cardinals will then make their way into the Pauline Chapel and from there in procession to the Sistine Chapel singing the Litany of All the Saints (here is a video from 2005):
and after a meditation the first round of voting will begin.
After that we will wait, maybe only an hour, maybe several days, until the Cardinal Protodeacon Jean-Louis Tauran (unless he is elected himself) appears on the balcony to proclaim to the city and the world:
“Fratelli e sorelle carissimi! Queridissimos hermanos y hermanas! Mes chers frères et soeurs! Liebe Brüder und Schwestern! Dear brothers and sisters!
Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum: Habemus Papam!
Eminentissimum ac Reverendissimum Dominum, Dominum N., Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Cardinalem N., qui sibi nomen imposuit N.”
The tension reaches its climax as he speaks the “Dominum” for the second time and then gives the first name of the new Pope. Last time it was “Josephum” and everyone knew that “Ratzinger” would follow. In 1978, when Cardinal Felici announced “Carolum”, only very few knew which surname to expect – surely it couldn’t be Carlo Confalonieri, the aged Dean of the College of Cardinals. And when the name “Wojtyła” was added in a beautiful Polish accent, several thought it was an African name.
So here is a guide to some of the frontrunners:
Dominum Petrum …. could be Turkson or Erdö
Dominum Ioannem …. could be O’Malley or Onaiyekan
Dominum Ioannem Franciscum …. will be Ravasi
Dominum Ludovicum Antonium …. will be Tagle
Dominum Angelum …. could be Scola or Bagnasco
Dominum Christophorum …. will be Schönborn
Dominum Marcum …. will be Ouellet
Domnum Odilum …. will be Scherer
Dominum Oscarum …. has got to be Rodriguez Maradiaga and
Dominum Timotheum …. can only be Dolan!
… and then we wait to see which name he has chosen for himself. Will it be “Benedict XVII”, “John Paul III”, “John XXIV”, “Paul VII”, “Pius XIII” (God help us), or something revolutionary, like “Francis I” (a fine name for a Capuchin!)? And then imagine an Irish American being installed on St. Patrick’s Day, next Sunday! Mmmhhh!
ORDINARIATE NEWS (from the Anglicanorum Coetibus Society) 