The summons arrived very quickly, just a few hours after the announcement, Monday, April 21, of the death of Pope Francis. The cardinals are called by the dean, a sort of president of the sacred college, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, to rally Rome to participate in general congregations on Tuesday morning 9 am.
Disseminated on all continents, the “princes of the Catholic Church” are, of course, expected to elect the new Pope – those, in any case, which are under 80 years old. Before that and for at least fifteen days, they will have to discuss current affairs before leaning, within the framework of these daily assemblies, on the challenges of the Universal Church and the challenges that arise.
The task is vast as the profiles of each other (there are 252, including 135 voters) are diverse and so much concerns differ from part of the globe to the other. Then charge to the next sovereign pontiff to seize the files which are necessary on the 1.4 billion Catholics in their faith, their spirituality, their practice, their relationship to the Church and the world.
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Source: Lemonde