The Catholic Church is just days away from beginning the process of electing a new pope. Cardinals are expected to start voting Wednesday evening, Rome time, after the conclave begins.
There are about 180 cardinals in total, but only 133 cardinal electors will cast their votes. Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, the former head of the Galveston-Houston Archdiocese, will be inside the Sistine Chapel to cast his ballot.
He reflected on his time in Rome and the process of finding the right person to lead the Church. “I feel both lucky and blessed,” Cardinal DiNardo said. “I’m here as a cardinal because of the gracious mercy of Pope Benedict XVI. Two years ago, he said, ‘I think we need someone from Texas.’”
Cardinal DiNardo has been in Rome since the funeral of Pope Francis. As the process of electing a new pope gets closer, he reflected on the religious ritual of selecting the new Pontiff inside the Sistine Chapel.
“It’s like watching the Last Judgment scene,” he replied. “That chapel is tall, and when the door clicks, you can hear it echo throughout the chapel. From the point of view of just an ordinary person, you say, ‘This is really important now.’ You begin to realize how deep this responsibility is once that happens.”
When asked what he believes is most important when looking for the right person for the job, DiNardo emphasized the need for unity.
“You look for a person, a cardinal, who has shown in his words and actions that he is a man of unity for the Church,” he said. “I want a person who can speak clearly our Church teaching. One cannot help but think of Pope Francis and how wonderfully his smile and his manner of acting with people who may seem small or at the margins attracted them. So someone who can be attractive in that way is important too.”
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He added that the cardinal selected must also have a sense of shepherding and governing. “He has a huge curia and things to run, so he has to be someone who’s able and capable of doing that.”
The conclave is set to begin Wednesday, May 7. When asked if there was a frontrunner among the candidates to become pope, Cardinal DiNardo said there is a whole list of them. One way he tries to get to know them is by sharing a coffee break, which he considers extremely important.
“During those coffee breaks, something about them really comes through,” he said.
