There will be one round of voting this afternoon, and from tomorrow, there will be two rounds of voting in the morning and two in the afternoon until the Catholic Church has a new pontiff.
But the first order of the day was a Holy Mass inside St Peter’s Basilica ahead of the conclave.
As I was speaking to Archbishop John Kennedy from St Peter’s, someone behind us started the shout “pray, pray, pray”.
“As you can see, as you can hear, we’re all very excited the Mass is going on behind us.”
Born in Dublin, Kennedy is archbishop of the titular see of Ossero, an ancient diocese in Croatia that ceased functioning in the 19th century.
His main role however is as Secretary of the Disciplinary Section of the Dicastery for the Congregation of the Faith.
It’s a long title, but it essentially means that Kennedy has been put in charge by the late Pope Francis of leading investigations into child abuse allegations against Catholic clergy worldwide.
“The Pope has entrusted me with that responsibility of examining all the accusations of child sexual abuse.
“By ascertaining the truth of these allegations, we can then provide justice for those who have been abused.
“This is going to be one of the many priorities of the next pope, along with many other questions in terms of peace and the understanding of the faith and the mission of the church.”
From the day after Francis’s death, cardinals have been meeting to discuss the conclave and that way forward for the Church and the priorities of the next pope.
The abuse crisis has been discussed at many of these meetings.
When asked if he is confident that tackling abuse cases will be top of the next pope’s list of priorities, Kennedy said he was “absolutely” confident.
“When you think about the rest of this year, this is a Jubilee year, many people have planned pilgrimages with their parishes.
“Last week, I had a group of about 400 deaf people who travelled here from all over the world.
“And for the rest of the year, the next pope will be taking on the role will be having private audiences and meeting world leaders, and then probably from January, he will really have an opportunity to implement what he thinks.”
Kennedy noted that in the pre-conclave meetings, whoever the next pope will be will have had the opportunity to hear the advice of the cardinals.
“These are really important days in which he’s going to hear all the priorities that all of those people have been expressing from all over the world, presenting the needs that they see as being the vital needs of the church.”
At 4.30pm Rome time, cardinals will make their way to the Sistine Chapel, where they will cast their vote while looking upon Michelangelo’s Last Judgement.
On the right of the Risen Christ, angels and devils fight over making the damned fall down to Hell.
“I imagine their legs will be shaking,” said Kennedy.
“They will be looking at Michelangelo’s Last Judgment and realising that, as they place their hands on the Gospel and as they make a solemn vow to choose the next pope, they will literally have to face God, in whose sight each person will one day be judged.
“This is not like a local election, you can change those things every four or five years.
“This is for the foreseeable future, and it’s going to have an impact of 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide and the history of the church.”
Meanwhile, some LGBT Catholics have expressed apprehension that whoever emerges from the central balcony of St Peter’s might harden the tone that Francis had softened.
Kennedy remarked that there is a “great spirit of prayer and of trusting in the Holy Spirit”.
“I think everybody is wishing that the pope is calm and at peace with his decision.
“That’s the question he’ll have to ask himself when he’s named, ‘do you accept this charge to be the next pope?’
“And if he does, I’m sure he’ll have the support, remembering, of course, that Pope Francis was always asking for people’s prayer.
“He knew he wasn’t doing it on his own, but he was doing it with the support and encouragement of the entire Church.”
Meanwhile, at the Holy Mass this morning, the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Battista Re, said there is a “confident expectation” ahead of the conclave.
At 91, Re is too old to partake in the conclave, as only those aged 80 and under at the time of the pope’s death or resignation have a vote.
He said the next pope will need “strength” at this “difficult and complex turning point in history”.
Re also called for cardinals to set aside “personal considerations” and only keep in mind the “good of the Church and of humanity”.
He also remarked that “unity”, seen as a by-word for undoing much of Francis’s outreach, “does not mean uniformity, but a firm communion in diversity”.
Elsewhere, Re noted that Pope John Paul II had “expressed hope that during voting, Michelangelo’s looming image of Jesus the Judge would remind everyone of the greatness of the responsibility of placing the ‘supreme keys’ in the correct hands”.