The Church of the World in the Sistine Chapel, 4 more votes are expected today for the election of the Pope

The world enters the Sistine Chapel and has the faces of 133 cardinals coming from seventy different countries. Every corner is represented in the most globalized conclave in history.

Europeans, Asians, Africans, Americans and even those from distant Oceania, the cardinals parade in the most solemn processions, bringing their stories and their language, which shines in the accent with which they read the Latin formula of the oath. Silence and emotion. It is the moment of choosing the successor of Peter, and also of Francis, after twelve intense years of pontificate, whose legacy will have to be taken up somehow by the next Pope.

The first plume of smoke from the conclave that began yesterday came out at 9:00 pm and was black, as expected. Over 45,000 faithful were waiting for it in St. Peter's Square. Compared to the 2013 conclave, which began at the same time, this year the plume was delayed by one hour and twenty minutes (in 2013 it had arrived at 7:41 pm). According to what has been learned, what had an impact was the duration of Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa's meditation, 45 minutes, and then the fact that the cardinals, in addition to being eighteen more than in the last Conclave, are mostly neophytes and some of them do not speak Italian. The voting process took longer.

Yesterday afternoon, as expected, there was only a first test to verify what the entry weights are for the favorites. Rumors continue to point to Pietro Parolin in the "pole position", but Francis Prevost and Jean-Marc Aveline are also being added. Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Matteo Zuppi also remain firmly at the top of the guessing game for the Pope. There are also outsiders who are little talked about but who are held in high regard within the College of Cardinals, such as the former head of the Salesians, Angel Fernandez Artime.

From now on everything really happens under the secrecy of the Chapel, Michelangelo Buonarroti's masterpiece. The cardinals, first collectively and then one by one, swore on the Gospel not only to remain faithful to the role of Pope, whoever is elected, but also to maintain absolute secrecy regarding everything that happened within those walls. They left their mobile phones at home; however, around the Vatican the queue comes and goes, given the technological means deployed to ensure the confidentiality of the work of the conclave.

There are 108 cardinals who are experiencing their first conclave, for some it may be their first time in the Sistine Chapel, as is evident from those admiring glances towards the Renaissance masterpiece.

Also entering the Sistine Chapel was Bosnian Cardinal Vinko Puljic, Archbishop Emeritus of Sarajevo, who until a few days ago had been in doubt due to illness regarding his participation in the conclave and then regarding a possible vote from Casa Santa Marta.

The Sistine Door closed yesterday at around 5:40 p.m. with the solemn cry of "Extra Omnes", pronounced by the President of Ceremonies, Monsignor Diego Ravelli. Everyone out: now the time to choose has truly come.

The next vote is scheduled for today, Thursday, May 8, when there will be four ballots: two in the morning (the first at 9:15) and two in the afternoon.

During the Mass in St. Peter's Basilica Pro eligendo Romano Pontifice, Cardinal Dean Giovanni Battista Re said: "Today's world expects much from the Church for the preservation of these fundamental, human and spiritual values."   (A2 Televizion)