Monday 18 April, 2005

Our Augustinian community prayers began at 6:45am and included special prayers for the upcoming conclave. I then went over to the Basilica to prepare for the Mass which began at 10:00am. All the Eucharistic Ministers gathered in the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament and waited in prayer before processing to our places which were behind the main altar of the Basilica. From our seats we could see the Cardinals entering the basilica and it was enjoyable watching them and speculating, along with everyone else in the world, which one was going to be elected Pope at the upcoming conclave.

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger presided at the Mass because of his position as Dean of the College of Cardinals. In all of the readings, the prayers and the hymns one theme that was constant was the presence of the Holy Spirit. It was truly a spirit-filled liturgical event. The Cardinals all wore red vestments, the same liturgical color that is worn at Confirmation celebrations and Pentecost, other celebrations with special focus on the presence of the Holy Spirit

After the Mass, I went back to my “other life” here. I had a Greek class to attend and so I was not able to see any of the ceremony and procession into the Sistine Chapel which was broadcast on television for the very first time. I understand that it was very impressive to see all of the Cardinals making their promise to follow through with their responsibilities as they placed their hand on the book of the Gospel. Then, when the conclave was officially to begin, all of the “extra people” who were in the chapel were called to leave with the “extra omnes” proclamation. This is when the television cameras and all those who were not cardinal electors left, leaving only the 115 Cardinals to cast their first ballot.The reports came out that the signals from the smoke stack would probably appear around 7:00 in the evening and at noon during the day. I would estimate that thirty thousand people were gathered in the Piazza. One of our friars who was also in the Piazza in 1958 at the election of John XXIII was reflecting on how international the present crowd is compared to the almost exclusively European crowd that had gathered 47 years ago. We were all looking up to the Sistine at 7:00 sharp….and nothing, 7:15…7:30…7:45…still nothing. During that time, I began to think of family and friends and all of the things that they were doing at the exact time we were all waiting. Mary was most likely unpacking after moving into her new home this past weekend and Peggy was fulfilling a dream by running in the Boston Marathon. I began to think that as much as we had been praying for God’s spirit to be with the Cardinals who were locked in the Sistine Chapel, that Spirit was also able to be blessing people all over the world this day; helping them achieve their personal goals. Finally a little after 8:00pm small puffs of smoke started to appear…smoke that looked white….many people were saying to themselves and to each other….”Bianco?”… “White?”….Then more smoke….again not sure…We were told that the bells would ring if it was white. There were no bells, but it sure looked white…and the crowd began to clap with enthusiasm and unbelief that on the first ballot a pope had been chosen. But then an indisputable stream of black smoke began to pour out of that pipe which had captivated our gaze for the past hour. Even against the darkening evening sky, it was clear that the smoke was black signaling that a decision had not been reached on the first ballot and that we would all have to wait at least for another night before the election of our next pope.