VATICAN CITY (AP) — The great doors of the Sistine Chapel shut Wednesday after the cry of “extra omnes” — Latin for “all out” — and 133 cardinals began the secretive, centuries-old ritual of electing a new pope to lead the Catholic Church, opening the most geographically diverse conclave in the faith’s 2,000-year history.
The red-robed cardinals entered the Sistine Chapel in pairs, chanting the meditative “Litany of the Saints” as Swiss Guards stood at attention. The hymn implores the saints to help the cardinals find a successor to Pope Francis to lead the 1.4 billion-strong Catholic Church.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the secretary of state under Francis and himself a leading contender to succeed him as pope, assumed the leadership of the proceedings as the senior cardinal under age 80.
Speaking in Latin, Parolin stood before Michelangelo’s vision of heaven and hell, “The Last Judgment,” and led the cardinals in a lengthy oath. Each one followed, placing his hand on the Gospel and promising in Latin to maintain utmost secrecy.