“He must be very happy that they have chosen an American,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin, secretary of state of the Vatican, said with a smile while walking with a collaborator for Via della Coniliazione, heading to the Vatican.
Enjoying a sunny afternoon of Sunday, the Italian cardinal, who sounded like one of the favorites at the beginning of the conclave, shared with the National Catholic register his hope that the Church living “in peace”, as “in the times of the apostles, guided by the Holy Spirit.”
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His feelings reflected a palpable sense of hope, optimism and peace that seems to have invaded the eternal city since the election of Pope León on Thursday night, even if he is dyed with caution among some faithful.
Cardinal Walter Kasper, President Emeritus of the Dicastery for the promotion of the unity of Christians, while going to take fresh air near Tiber, said he also saw Leo XIV as a man of peace and also as someone he listens.
The cardinal, who at 92 did not vote in the conclave, believes that León – who is considered a conciliatory figure after the deep divisions of the last 12 years – is not “neither too much to the left nor to the right” and that “he wants continuity with Pope Francis.” Both attributes, he told the Register, are “very important.”
The Swiss cardinal Kurt Koch, Kasper successor in the Vatican Ecumenical Dicastery, welcomed Leo XIV as a “dialogue man” and told the Register, in a dialogue near the Plaza de San Pedro, who trusts that the new Pope “will bring harmony” to the Church. He also highlighted the good atmosphere that was lived during the conclave.
Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako, patriarch of Baghdad de los Caldeos, said he sat next to Cardinal Robert Prevost during the vote in the Sistine Chapel. He told the Register that he asked Pope Leo XIV to defend the persecuted Christians in the Middle East.
While many cardinals, priests and laity have received the new Pope with joy, some have also expressed certain caution. After the agitated years of Francisco’s pontificate, and with Leo XIV receiving support from both progressive and conservative cardinals, a cautious attitude of “waiting and seeing” is evident.
“I have a lot of hope,” said Fr. Rok Pogančnik, a traditional Slovenian priest who has appeared in Ewtn. “What he has done so far seems very good. Hopefully bring the peace that the Church needs so much. I like not to seek to be the protagonist, and it seems that he really believes.”
Voting patterns
Now that the dust begins to settle, what happened during the conclave begins to clarify, according to conversations with several sources.
Cardinal Parolin was believed to be one of the main contenders at the beginning, especially among the strongest supporters of Pope Francis, possibly attracting between 40 and 50 votes, but failed to obtain broader support. The votes of other important candidates, such as Cardinals Luis Antonio Tagle, Matteo Zuppi, Mario Grech, Pablo Virgilio David and Jean-Marc Aveline, were also divided, especially among the Italians, Asians and Africans, so none managed to consolidate.
The hopes of those who supported the candidates of the community of Sant’Egidio (the Cardinals José Tolentino de Mendonça and Zuppi) also vanished for lack of support. On the other hand, the votes of the “conservative” candidates were distributed among Cardinals Péter Erdő, Robert Sarah, Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Malcolm Ranjith, preventing some from standing out.
Once all these candidates have been eliminated, the stage was prepared to emerge Cardinal Prevost. Considered as a possible consensus candidate by many cardinals before the conclave, he began to add votes in the third vote, even among the conservative voters, thanks in part to the support of Cardinal Timothy dole to the candidacy of Cardinal Prevost. For the fourth vote, Cardinal Prevost had obtained more than 100 votes, well above two thirds of 89 required to be chosen.
This was achieved without any lobby prior to the conclave by Cardinal Prevost. Contrary to it informed By Italian media, the Register can confirm that Cardinal Raymond Burke never received the future Pope in his apartment during the general congregations, nor was there any other pressure to vote for him.
Generalized acceptance
In general, the cardinals who were closer to Francisco are happy with the result, as well as those who criticized the previous papacy, even if Cardinal Prevost was never his first option. All agree that Pope Leo XIV will bring a necessary period of calm and peace to the papacy after the divisions that were during the Pontificate of Francisco, issues that were discussed in the 12 general congregations that preceded the conclave.
Other sources coincided with Cardinal Koch that these meetings were held in a collegial and helpful environment. They also affirmed that the conversations were “very frank”, and that both the praise and criticism of the previous pontificate received broad dissemination, in contrast to the carefully controlled and prosaic press releases issued by the press office of the Holy See in the days before the conclave.
A particular area discussed was the lack of adhesion to the Church’s Law during the last 12 years, and it is believed that Pope Leo XIV, who has a doctorate in canon law, according to reliable sources, wants to restore respect for canonical affairs in the Church.
Concerns in this area also include liturgical laws and the status of the Dicasteria for divine cult, which is also expected to examine. It is not certain that, at this stage, the suppression of the traditional Mass in Latin by Pope Francis is included in this analysis of the law, but it is very likely that efforts to Pope León will occur in the near future about these restrictions.
These events, together with the commitment of Pope Leo XIV to listen, build bridges and dialogue, have infused considerable hope and confidence in Rome and beyond.
“It started well,” declared Archbishop Georg Gänswein, former personal secretary of Benedict XVI, Corriere della Sera on Monday. “Now a new stage begins. I perceive a generalized relief. The time of arbitrary decisions is over.”
The current Apostolic Nuncio in Lithuania added: “We can start having a papacy capable of guaranteeing stability and relying on existing structures, without knocking them down or disturbing them.”
Translated and adapted by the ACI Press team. Originally published in the National Catholic Register.
Edward Pentin
Edward Pentin is a collaborator of the National Catholic Register and Vaticanist of Ewtn News. He began informing about the Pope and the Vatican on Radio Vaticana before becoming a correspondent in Rome for Ewtn. He has also informed about the Holy See and the Catholic Church for several other publications, including Newsweek, Newsmax, Zenit, The Catholic Herald and The Holy Land Review, a Franciscan publication specialized in the Church and the Middle East.