The papal conclave to elect the next spiritual leader of the Catholic church began Tuesday after a morning mass at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City.
One hundred and fifteen cardinals from around the globe have moved into the Santa Marta in the Vatican, where they will cloister themselves and take part in a secret election, one of the 115 men will almost certainly emerge from Santa Marta as the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics.
"My brothers, let us pray that the Lord will grant us a pontiff who will embrace this noble mission with a generous heart," said Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, when he addressed those in attendance at St. Peter's, CNN reported.
The cardinals will later lock themselves in a secret conclave and will not emerge until a new pope is elected. The world will watch the copper chimney on the roof of of the Sistine Chapel, where puffs of smoke will be the only indication of what is going on inside.
Most expect to see nothing but black smoke as the conclave begins. When white smoke plumes from the chimney, a new pope has been elected.
Pope Benedict XVI, who resigned the papacy on Feb. 28, was the first pope to resign in 600 years. As his successor is yet to be known, tailors have completed sets of papal clothes in three different sizes, CNN reported.
The longest conclave held since the turn of the 20th century lasted five days, according to CNN.
Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said the cardinals will probably vote Tuesday, but they don't have to. If they do, Lombardi said the first smoke might be seen around 8 p.m. Vatican time (3 p.m. EST).
CNN reported Italy's Cardinal Angelo Scola, Brazil's Odilo Scherer, Marc Ouellet of Quebec, Canada and U.S. cardinals Sean O'Malley of Boston and Timothy Dolan of New York as men who have been mentioned as possible contenders for the papacy. Incidentally each of those men have a strong online presence, indicating that the next pope will likely be savvy with digital media.
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