Black smoke: No new Pope, as 3 Nigerian cardinals join conclave

BY Sam Eyoboka, Hugo Odiogor & Uduma Kalu, with Agency Reports Black smoke, signifying no new pope had been elected on the first day of ballot, oozedout of the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, Tuesday, where a total of 115 cardinals gathered to elect the 266th pontiff for the Catholic Church. Three Nigerians, Cardinals Francis Arinze, Anthony Okogie and John Onaiyekan, were among the 115 red-hatted and red-caped Cardinals who began, yesterday, the procedures of electing the new pontiff for the Catholic Church in its over 2,000-year history. They chanted and prayed for divine guidance in the Sistine Chapel as they prepared for a conclave to choose a pontiff, who will face one of the most difficult periods in the Church’s history. Before moving into the Sistine Chapel, the Cardinals sang and prayed for divine guidance and took oath of secrecy as they filed into the conclave to perform their solemn assignment. Contrary to earlier reports that Cardinal Arinze will not be eligible to vote on grounds that the Anambra-born Cardinal will be 80 by November this year, he participated in the balloting. As they filed into the Sistine Chapel, the Cardinals chanted what is known as the Litany of saints, asking more than 150 saints by name for help in making their choice of who should succeed Benedict XVI, who resigned last month to devote his life to prayers. One of the Cardinals said: “The entire Church, united with us in prayer, asks for the grace of the Holy Spirit at this moment so that we elect a worthy shepherd for the entire flock of Christ.” Once inside the Sistine the Cardinals were expected to take their places along the walls of the frescoed chapel and sing a hymn to the Holy Spirit, asking it to “visit our minds” during the election process. Oath They then read an oath in Latin, promising toabide by all the rules of the conclave, including not to reveal anything that goes on during the conclave. The Cardinals cast a first ballot last night. Most observers believed that the outcome ofthe first vote would be likely inconclusive because there was no frontrunner to succeed Benedict, who became the first pope in centuries to step down. It turned outso. A new Pope is expected to garner two-thirdsmajority or 77 votes to be declared. There were speculations that the new pope will beknown by Thursday. Smoke, white for a new pontiff, black after an inconclusive vote, emerge from the chimney on the Sistine’s roof if a ballot wereheld. The balloting for the next pontiff will take place under the gaze of the divine presence represented through Michelangelo’s fresco of the Last Judgment on the wall behind the altar. The solemn afternoon procession into the Sistine followed a morning Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, where Angelo Sodano, an Italian who is dean of the cardinals, called for unity in the Church, which has been rife with intrigue and scandal, and urged everyone to work with the next pope. “My brothers, let us pray that the Lord will grant us a pontiff who will embrace this noble mission with a generous heart,” Sodano said in his homily, receiving warm applause when he thanked “the beloved and venerable” Benedict. Front runners Among the name being thrown up are Italy’sAngelo Scola and Brazil’s Odilo Scherer; Ghana’s Peter Tucson; U.S. cardinals Timothy Dolan and Sean O’Malley; Canada’s Marc Ouellet and Argentina’s Leonardo Sandri. Scola would return the papacy to Italy after 35 years in the hands of Poland’s John Paul II and the German Benedict; Scherer would be the first non-European pope since Syrian-born Gregory III in the 8th century. Vatican insiders say Scola, who has managedtwo big Italian dioceses, might be best-placed to understand the Byzantine politics of the Vatican administration of which he has not been a part and be able to introduce swift reform. Global perspectives All the prelates in the Sistine Chapel were appointed by either Benedict XVI or John Paul II, and the next pontiff will almost certainly pursue their fierce defense of traditional moral teachings. However, Benedict and John Paul were criticised for failing to reform the Curia, and some churchmen believe the next pope mustbe a good chief executive or at least put a robust management team in place under him. With only 24 percent of Catholics living in Europe, while Italy has the highest number of Cardinals, there is pressure that the pontiff should come from a different continent to bring a different perspective to the Papacy. There are intra-national squabbles among European nations, which observers fear could lead to pull-him-down syndrome. Germany are ready to sting an Italian Pope for what they believe was an Italian conspiracy to force a German Pope out of office. The Americans have been pushing forgreater openness in the Papacy. Latin American cardinals might worry more about poverty and the rise of evangelical churches than questions of materialism and sexual abuse that dominate in the West, while the growth of Islam is a major concernfor the Church in Africa and Asia.