May 5, 2025 // National

‘This Is a Moment of Hope’: Cardinals Urge Unity, Patience Ahead of Conclave

Ines San Martin

ROME (OSV News) – As cardinals from around the world gathered the morning of Monday, May 5, for another day of general congregations ahead of the conclave that was scheduled to begin on Wednesday, May 7, their comments to the media offered a window into both the diversity of the college and the unity of purpose guiding their discernment.

Cardinal Fernando Chomalí of Santiago, Chile, reflected on the beauty of the Church’s universality.

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Where, and When, to Watch for White Smoke

(OSV News) – The conclave was scheduled to begin on Wednesday, May 7, but the public only knows its end by the iconic white smoke that will billow out of the Sistine Chapel’s chimney.

Black smoke means the cardinals have not yet reached the two-thirds majority vote necessary to elect a new pope. The cardinals burn the ballots in a stove, adding chemicals to the fire to color the smoke.

The best place to watch for the smoke is in St. Peter’s Square itself, but the Vatican will also livestream the smoke on its YouTube channel, Vatican Media Live.

For smoke watchers, the best time to view the smoke on May 7, the conclave’s first day, is just after 7 p.m. (1 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time). On the following days, look for it around 10:30 a.m. (4:30 a.m. EDT), and noon (6 a.m. EDT), and again at 5:30 p.m (11:30 a.m. EDT), and just after 7 p.m. (1 p.m. EDT), according to Catholic News Service.

However, the times may vary depending on the cardinals’ prayers and discussions.

“On the second day of the conclave and moving forward, there can be four rounds of voting each day, but only two smoke signals,” according to Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Services’ editor-in-chief. “That is because if the first ballot of the morning or of the afternoon session does not result in an election, a second vote begins immediately, and the two ballots are burned together.”

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“You see cardinals from Mongolia, from the Roman Curia, others working among the poorest in Latin America or Africa. It’s a beautiful sight,” he told reporters. “It does us all good. It’s part of our 2,000-year heritage – and also the legacy of Pope Francis.”

For Cardinal Chomalí, the days since the pope’s funeral on Saturday, April 26, have been more than just logistical preparations, but truly about getting to know one another. Asked whether the internal mood is tense, he declined to speak on behalf of the congregation but emphasized, “This is a moment of hope – not only for us but for the world.”

Some cardinals believe more time is needed before entering the Sistine Chapel on the afternoon of May 7, when they were scheduled to cast the first vote. Cardinal Luis José Rueda of Bogotá, Colombia, acknowledged that while the week of meetings has been “important to get to know one another,” more time would be welcome.

In the afternoon of Tuesday, May 6, the cardinals were expected to move to the Casa Santa Marta residence, the hotel within Vatican grounds where they will live during the duration of the conclave, completely shut off from the world, with no access to any electronic devices nor a landline.

Others, such as Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako of Baghdad, suggested the college is ready.

“We’ve been together for a week – I think we know each other well enough to elect the next pope,” he said. He called for a pontiff who is “a father, a pastor, who preserves the unity of the Church and the integrity of the faith.”

Talking exclusively with OSV News on Wednesday, April 30, Cardinal Sako had emphasized the need for the next pope to be able to dialogue with other religions, “particularly with Islam,” a pressing need in his country, where Christians are still recovering from genocide at the hands of ISIS.

The question of continuity with Pope Francis was met with nuance.

“Yes, there should be continuity,” Cardinal Sako said, “but the world continues to develop. The pope must read the signs of the times and not retreat into his palace.”

Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo of Jakarta, Indonesia, who arrived in Rome on the evening of Sunday, May 4, missing most of the general congregations, offered a simple response to that same question: “It will depend on the Holy Spirit.” He said he would enter the Sistine Chapel “with an open heart.”

Some moments were more lighthearted. English Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe paused to autograph a baseball for a visiting American – a collector who hopes that among the dozens he has collected these days, one carries the signature of the future pope.

Meanwhile, Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco of Algiers, urged patience.

“There’s no rush for the white smoke,” he told reporters. When asked if he hoped for a French pope, he smiled and replied, “An Algerian one would be fine, too.”

“But we need a good pope,” he said, all laughter aside. When pressed about what that would mean, he answered: “Someone who can carry the message of the Gospel, who can share the beatitudes with the world. You know what I mean. Someone who can do what Pope Francis did,” he said.

“We are not discussing names in the congregations but describing the personality we are looking for in the next pope, who must be a man with a strong personality, but who is also a good person for whom sharing the Gospel is a priority,” he said.

Cardinal Gregorio Rosa Chávez of El Salvador described a calm and fraternal atmosphere among cardinals – one marked not by tension but by prayer and unity of purpose.

“We are getting to know the faces of the cardinals,” he said in a conversation with OSV News on Saturday, May 3, just after leaving one of the daily meetings. “You get to know those you didn’t know before. It’s a very peaceful, fraternal, faith-filled environment.”

Cardinal Rosa Chávez, retired auxiliary bishop of San Salvador and a close collaborator of St. Óscar Romero, made history in 2017 when Pope Francis appointed him cardinal – the first from El Salvador and the first to be named while serving as an auxiliary bishop.

At 81, he will not enter the Sistine Chapel to cast a vote in the conclave, as Church rules limit participation to those under 80. Still, his thoughts on the general congregations reflect the spirit of the universal church – especially the “church of the poor” dear to Pope Francis.

“There is no climate of conflict or tension. Just a lot of peace,” he said. “What God wants for the Church and for the world is what each cardinal holds in his heart.”

Cardinal Rosa Chávez said he doesn’t notice anxiety among his brother cardinals, but said “there is a deep sense of calm. There’s great trust that God will show us who should continue the work of Francis.”

That work, the cardinal emphasized, must address the modern world’s biggest challenges – particularly how to evangelize in a digital culture.

“We’re often giving answers to questions that no longer exist,” he said. “What must challenge us is how to respond through a coherent life. People don’t accept hypocrisy. They want authenticity, closeness. They want to feel Christ among us.”