OTTAWA (CCN) – As cardinals from around the world gather at the Sistine Chapel to begin the task of electing a new Pope, Canadian Catholics are being called to unite in prayer.
In a letter released May 5, Bishop William McGrattan of Calgary, president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), extended an invitation to the faithful across the country to join spiritually with the 133 cardinals who entered conclave on May 7 to elect the 267th successor of St. Peter.
“The conclave recalls the gathering of the Apostles in the Upper Room before Pentecost, where they ‘constantly devoted themselves to prayer,’” wrote Bishop McGrattan, quoting Acts 1:13–14. “Unlike modern portrayals in popular media, the conclave is first and foremost a deeply spiritual event.”
Describing the conclave as a solemn and liturgically rich process carried out in “constant prayer,” Bishop McGrattan said the cardinal-electors undertake their role “under the guidance of the Holy Spirit,” seeking to discern God’s will for the Church.
He noted that the Church’s rites envision not only the cardinals’ prayer, but that of the entire Church united with them in spirit.
“In that same spirit of prayer, the rites of the conclave envision that the faithful are praying alongside the Cardinal-electors,” he wrote. As the Order of the Sacred Rites of a Conclave states: “The whole church, united with us in prayer, invokes the grace of the Holy Spirit so that we may elect a worthy pastor of the entire flock of Christ.”
Bishop McGrattan encouraged Catholics — clergy, religious, and laity — to pray for the cardinals as they begin the deliberations that will lead to the election of a new Pontiff.
He suggested several traditional forms of prayer, including the ancient hymn Veni, Creator Spiritus (“Come, O Creator Spirit”) and the Collect from the Mass for the Election of a Pope:
O God, Eternal Shepherd, who govern your flock with unfailing care, grant in your boundless fatherly love a pastor for your Church who will please you by his holiness and to us show watchful care.
“With the support of your prayers, may God’s will be accomplished,” Bishop McGrattan concluded. “And when the time comes, may you joyfully welcome the newly elected Pastor of the Universal Church, with a renewed awareness that Christ ‘placed Blessed Peter over the other Apostles and instituted in him a permanent and visible source and foundation of unity of faith and communion.’”
The cardinals are expected to hold up to four ballots each day until a new Pope is elected. White smoke rising from the Sistine Chapel chimney will signal the moment the Church hears the long-awaited words: Habemus papam.
The conclave can be followed on the Vatican News live feed.
