May 4, 2025 - Pastor Message
May 9, 2025“Amen I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40).
“Amen I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40).
This weekend concludes the nine days of mourning for Pope Francis, and this Wednesday, May 7, begins the conclave of cardinals that will, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, elect our new pope. In this in-between time, known as an interregnum (“between reigns”), I would like to take a moment to look back and offer my own reflection on the life and legacy of Pope Francis as well as look ahead to the events that are part of the conclave.
Pope Francis was controversial, to say the least. He was the first Latin American pope. He was the first of his name, whose namesake, St. Francis, was also controversial. He broke papal protocol time and time again, living in a humble apartment in the Vatican guesthouse rather than the papal palace, forsaking elaborate papal vestments, violating security instructions to be closer to the people, preferring to spend his time with the poor, the sick, and the outcasts rather than the rich and powerful. He gave unprecedented access to the press, with impromptu interviews on flights from his numerous apostolic visits to places as remote as Mongolia, South Korea, and the Arabian Peninsula - all firsts for a pope.
Perhaps most controversial, however, were his writings, which often challenged us to change in order to serve the last and least among us in witness to Christ, who himself became an outcast to save all of us sinners who were cast out of paradise. While I suspect many people who criticize Pope Francis’ writings have never actually read them in their entirety but only selected passages taken out of context, the reality is that his writings are very much in line with the apostolic tradition - just parts of our tradition that make us uncomfortable. That is because change is always uncomfortable, and Pope Francis’ legacy, if anything, is a call to change to better serve the mission of Jesus, whose proclamation of the Gospel was also a call to change: “Repent and believe in the gospel!” (Mark 1:15).
And now, with his passing, change is once more upon us. The conclave of cardinals to elect a new pope begins Wednesday, May 7, with a special Mass for the election of a pope at 10:00 AM Rome time (4:00 AM ET). The cardinals will then enter the conclave in the Sistine Chapel the same day at 4:30 PM Rome time (10:30 AM ET), where they will pray and listen to God’s Word before they begin discussing and voting for our new pope, an exercise in synodality that will no doubt make our departed pontiff, who so strongly promoted synodality in the Church, smile. These events will be televised on major networks and EWTN and livestreamed on the Vatican’s official YouTube page https://www.youtube.com/vatican.
After that, the doors of the chapel will be closed, and further proceedings of the conclave will be done in secret to prevent outside pressure and interference, allowing the Holy Spirit room to guide the cardinals in their decision. The cardinals will vote four times a day by secret ballot until a candidate receives ? of the vote. After each vote that fails to elect a pope, the ballots will be burned in a stove, producing black smoke. Once a pope is elected, the ballots will be burned with special chemicals to produce white smoke, announcing to the world that we have a pope. Shortly after that, the new pope will be announced officially from the balcony overlooking St. Peter Square and give his first papal blessing to the whole world. Let us pray in these intervening days that the Holy Spirit burn brightly in the hearts and minds of the cardinals called to elect our new pope, and may God bless whomever is chosen with all the graces he needs for such a vital and lofty ministry, following in the footsteps of so many good shepherds before him, like Pope Francis.
Fr. Marc Stockton
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