“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.” – Collect from the Mass for the Election of a Pope:
Cardinals from around the world pray in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican on March 12, 2013, before beginning the Conclave to elect a successor to Pope Benedict XVI. The following day, on the fifth ballot, they elected Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, Argentina, who chose the name Francis. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
In a statement released May 5, Bishop William McGratten, president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), issued an invitation to all the Catholic faithful of Canada to pray for the conclave at which cardinals from around the world will vote to choose the next pope.
Resources about the conclave, including the CCCB president’s message and a selection of prayers, have also been posted on the CCCB website at: LINK.
“With the support of your prayers, may God’s will be accomplished,” wrote McGrattan about the solemn process of electing a new pope to replace Pope Francis who died April 21.
McGrattan’s message notes that on Wednesday, May 7, 133 cardinals from across the world will gather to begin the process to choose the 267th successor of Saint Peter “behind the closed doors of the Sistine Chapel.”
“The conclave recalls the gathering of the Apostles in the Upper Room before Pentecost, where they ‘constantly devoted themselves to prayer’ (Acts 1:13–14),” wrote McGratten. “Unlike modern portrayals in popular media, the conclave is first and foremost a deeply spiritual event. It is carried out with solemn liturgical acts and constant prayer, as emphasized in the Order of the Sacred Rites of a Conclave. The cardinals undertake this sacred responsibility under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, whom they invoke in order to hear God’s voice and discern His will.”
In that spirit, the conclave rites envision that the faithful are praying alongside the cardinal electors, he said, quoting the order that states: “the whole church, united with us [the cardinal electors] in prayer, invokes the grace of the Holy Spirit so that we may elect a worthy pastor of the entire flock of Christ.”
McGratten notes that there are many meaningful ways to pray for the conclave “asking the Holy Spirit to grant the cardinals wisdom, faith, and discernment as they carry out this sacred task.”
The CCCB president 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’ (Lumen Gentium, no. 18).”
CCCB webpage dedicated to the conclave, which contains relevant information and resources:
- In English: https://www.cccb.ca/about/apostolic-nunciature/pope-francis/the-election-of-a-new-pope/
- In French: https://www.cecc.ca/a-propos/la-nonciature-apostolique/pape-francois/pour-lelection-du-nouveau-pape/
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