(RNS) — The cardinals who bade farewell to Pope Francis on Saturday (April 26) gathered Monday for their first meetings to discuss the future of the church, known as general congregations, and set the conclave to elect the next pope for May 7, the Vatican confirmed.
There were 180 cardinals present, about 100 of them below the cut-off age of 80 to vote at the conclave, the Vatican announced. About 20 cardinals spoke to the gathering, emphasizing “the main themes of the church, its relationship with the world and the qualities and the characteristics that the next pope will have to have to address them,” the Vatican spokesperson told journalists.
Many cardinals declined to comment on what those characteristics are, continuing a tendency to reticence that became the standard in the last few synods, or churchwide meetings of prelates, at which they took an oath of secrecy at Francis’ behest.
Despite their relative silence, a theme emerging from the early meetings has been the tension between diversity and unity, words that have become shorthand for cardinals to signal their vision for the church’s future.
Saturday’s spontaneous meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before Francis’ funeral underscored the political stakes the cardinals are weighing in the choice of a new pope. While looking to elect a spiritual leader for the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, many are also consideri …