VATICAN CITY (RNS) — In the week since Pope Francis was entombed at St. Mary Major, cardinals arriving in Rome to take part in the conclave that will decide his successor have been friendly if vague with the press. But as the Wednesday (May 7) start to the conclave draws closer, cardinals who earlier stopped to chat noncommittally to reporters as they came and went from pre-conclave meetings have become more hesitant to talk, even declining to return a greeting.
“Right now, everything is secret,” a rare exception, Madagascar Cardinal Désiré Tsarahazana, told RNS. “It’s the moment for prayers right now.”
The mood in Rome has grown more sober as the number of prelates present nears the full complement of cardinal electors. The Vatican said on Saturday that 177 cardinals in all were present for the day’s meeting, including 127 of the expected 133 cardinals who are younger than 80, eligible to vote in the conclave and healthy enough to come to Rome.
The atmosphere has also grown tense as rumors about a short conclave have waned and the electors have talked less of consensus. In a diverse and relatively new College of Cardinals, some prelates have seemingly become focused on candidates they know well. Meanwhile, the format of the pre-conclave meetings, known as general congregations, has been called into question by cardinals who want less speechifying and more open discussion of issues and the attributes required of the next pope.
“We are not ready yet,” said French Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco of Algiers, Algeria, speaking to journalists while leaving the general congregation on Saturday. “We need more time to pray together and discuss.”
Asked whether the cardinals were narrowing down the possible candidates, Chilean Cardinal Fernando Natalio Chomalí Garib said, “There are 133 names.”
Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said the 26 speakers who addressed the congregation on Saturday morning touched on a wide range of issues, many of which pointed to some cardinals’ desire for continuity with Francis’ papacy and safeguarding his legacy. According to Bruni, they addressed “collaboration and solidarity among local churches,” the church and pope’s role in promoting peace, ecumenical dialogue and “the desire for the next pope to have a prophetic spirit, capable of leading a church that does not close in on herself, but is able to go out and bring light to a world marked by despair.”
Other topics could reveal moments of tension, particularly the relationship between pope and the Vatican bureaucracy, which Francis often criticized, as well as the dual task of the church “to live and to witness communion within, and to promote fraternity in the world,” Bruni said.
When the cardinals do open up in interviews or on social media, they’re ready to talk about other controversies, such as the Vatican’s agreement with China on appointing bishops. The particulars of the deal, renewed in 2024 for four years, have been kept secret, but some cardinals believe it too greatly undermines papal authority over bishops in the country and limits the church’s ability to hold the communist government accountable for human rights violations.
Last week, the Chinese government named two bishops despite the lack of a sitting pope, including one in the Diocese of Xinxiang, where the Vatican had already appointed Bishop Joseph Zhang Weizhu.
In a post on X on Tuesday, Cardinal Joseph Zen, the former bishop of Hong Kong, shared images of himself praying for “the universal church and the church in China.”
The new leader of the church in Hong Kong, Cardinal Stephen Chow Sau-yan, has been a proponent for dialogue between the Vatican and Beijing. “At least now with the agreement, there’s a formal need for meeting on a regular basis to talk about progress. So there is something in place for the two sides to talk,” he told America Magazine on Friday, adding that “Pope Francis was a bridge builder and would want that kind of bridge building to continue.”
The issue of China weighs especially on this conclave since Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state under Francis and a major architect of the agreement, is considered a front-runner for pope.
The spokesperson announced that two cardinals buzzed about as potential popes, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost and Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, had been selected by a random drawing of lots to help camerlengo Cardinal Kevin Farrell with running the Vatican for the next three days.
Bruni declined to answer multiple inquiries about a post on the White House’s social media depicting U.S. President Donald Trump as pope in an image generated by artificial intelligence. The president had earlier jokingly suggested himself as a candidate for pope, before mentioning that the cardinal from New York, Timothy Dolan, is “very good.”
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 3, 2025
The New York state bishops’ conference responded by reminding the White House “we just buried our beloved Pope Francis” and admonishing: “Do not mock us.”
“There is nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr. President,” their post said.
On Sunday the general congregations will temporarily cease, and some cardinals will celebrate Mass in their titular churches, or churches assigned to them in Rome. Then, on Monday, they will be back to meeting and for the first time will hold an evening session in addition to their morning session, a possible sign that calls for more discussion before the conclave are being heeded.