Vatican firefighters were seen on the roof of the Sistine Church where the chimney was installed, a critical moment in preparation for the May 7 meeting.
After two rounds of votes at Sistine Chapel, the Cardinal’s ballots burned in a special stove to indicate the outcome to the outside world.
If the Pope is not selected, the ballot is mixed with the cartridge containing potassium perchlorate, anthraxone (the component of coal tar) and sulfur content to produce black smoke. But if there is a winner, the burning ballot will be mixed with potassium chlorate, lactose and chloroform resin to produce white smoke.
White smoke emerged from the chimney in the fifth vote on March 13, 2013, and Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was introduced into the world as Pope Francis was introduced shortly afterwards from Loggia in St. Peter's Basilica. Francis, the first Latin American pope in history, died on April 21 at the age of 88.
The chimney installation takes place on another day when the Cardinal arrived in the Vatican to discuss in advance the needs of the Catholic church and the type of pope required to operate the Pope.
These consultations include all cardinals, including cardinals over 80, who are not eligible to vote in the meeting itself.
In recent days, they have heard reports on the Vatican’s severe financial situation and have the opportunity to talk individually about future priorities and the issues they have found in the Francis’s mission.
Francis was a somewhat divided pope who was loved by some but criticized by others for his confusion in promoting faithfulness on moral and church-legal issues. These conservatives and traditionalists do not believe that they have a majority of the 135 cardinal voters, hoping that the new pope will reaffirm the doctrine of the core church and act as a stable figure in the Vatican bureaucracy.
Cardinal Beniamino Stella, who served as the clergy office in the Vatican under Francis, was one of the older, non-voting cardinals who spoke during the pre-approval meeting until he retired in 2021. According to the American Jesuits magazine, Stella strongly criticized Francis for reforming the Vatican bureaucracy that enabled women and laymen to take charge of positions in the Roman church rather than clergy.
The reform involved the 2022 Constitution, overhauled the Vatican bureaucracy and fulfilled the main mandate of Francis from the Cardinal to the 2013 session, making him elected the Pope. But some criticized the reform, which was nine years of work and tried to make the Holy See more service-oriented and efficient.
Francis appointed two laymen to be in charge of the Vatican Ministry of Communications Operations and Economics. More importantly, he appointed two nuns to take charge of the two most important Vatican offices: Simona Brambilla Sister Simona Brambilla as head of the Vatican office, responsible for all Catholic religious orders around the world, while sisters Raffaella Petrini are heads of the Vatican city government. In this position, Petrini operates the city state and is responsible for the Vatican Museums, which provides most of its income from the Vatican Museums, to the firefighters who install chimneys at the Sistine Chapel on Friday.
Their appointment is tangible evidence Francis believes that women should play a greater decision-making role in church governance. However, according to the nameless cardinal cited in the United States, Stella opposes Francis’ decision to reorganize the power of the church with the priesthood.
It is unclear what effect older cardinals (such as 83) will not have on younger cardinal voters. Generally speaking, the cardinal of the more conservative old guard stirred up a need for unity rather than pursuing Francis’ more radical legacy.
“The pope must ensure unity of the entire church,” said Fernando Filoni, retired head of the Vatican missionary office. The 79-year-old cardinal said in a pre-critical discussion when he arrived on Friday: “This is first and foremost. Everything else after it,” he said.
Cardinal Fernando Natalio Chomali Garib, 68, of the Archbishop of Santiago, Chile, said a wide variety of views are useful in pre-criticism meetings. Francis appointed Chomali to a church in Chile after the consequences of a scandal appointing his clergy in December.
“For me, I’m from a faraway country of Chile, and hearing this different experience is a fulfillment, not only for me, but for the church as a whole,” he said as he entered Friday.
