MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
As Catholics around the world mourn Pope Francis, centuries-old rituals are already playing out, rituals that will include choosing the next pope. The conclave - that's the College of Cardinals who will elect Pope Francis' successor - will begin 15 to 20 days after his death. To walk us through what happens next, I want to bring in Father Tom Reese of Religion News Service. Welcome back to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, and my condolences on a sad day in the church.
TOM REESE: Thank you. It is a sad day, but we're happy for him. He's in a better place.
KELLY: How are you remembering him today?
REESE: I remember him as someone who really changed the culture of the church. This is a man who hated clericalism. He kept telling bishops and priests to not act like princes but to be with their people.
KELLY: So, like many people listening to us, I feel like I know how a conclave works because I saw the movie last year. What should we know about the process that is about to unfold?
REESE: Well, all of the cardinal electors will be coming to Rome for the pope's funeral. That's 135 cardinals who are under the age of 80. Eighty percent of those have been appointed by Pope Francis. So they will gather in the Sistine Chapel and, twice a day, they will have a vote. And that will be done in silence and in prayer. Outside of the Sistine Chapel, there will be lots of conversations about who should be pope.
KELLY: And give us a little bit of insight into those conversations. What are the priorities supposed to be?
REESE: Well, I think each cardinal is looking for three things in a future pope. First, he wants someone who will be a good pope, which, of course, means that the candidate agrees with the cardinal on the future of the church. The second thing he wants is someone who he has a good relationship with because he wants to be able to have someone who will listen to him after he becomes pope. And finally, he wants someone elected who will go down well in his part of the world, in his country.
KELLY: Are there already names circulating, front-runners?
REESE: There's lots of names circulating, but there's no real front-runners. You know, when John Paul II was elected, it was a big surprise. When Francis was elected, it was a big surprise. So it may be a surprise.
KELLY: How big a factor is geography? Much has been made of the fact that Francis was the first non-European to hold that role in a thousand years.
REESE: Geography is extremely important because different parts of the world have different concerns. The Global South is very concerned about poverty, about the economic system, about globalization, about wars, and they're concerned about migrants and refugees trying to find safe places to live. On the other hand, you know, the people in the North, we're very strong on ecumenism. We're very strong on having good relations with the Jewish community. These are important things to us. We're very strong on taking care of the sex abuse crisis, making sure that this does not happen again. So there are different priorities in different parts of the world, but - and, you know, we may see how that plays out.
KELLY: I mean, this selection process is about as far from transparent as it feels possible to get. They will be sealed inside the Sistine Chapel. Will we ever get visibility into why whoever is chosen the next pope was chosen?
REESE: Well, of course, when the cardinals come out, each one of them can talk about why he likes the new pope or doesn't like the new pope. So we'll get that, but we certainly will not know how each person votes. The cardinals themselves will not even know that. It's a secret ballot, and the ballots are burned after they're counted.
KELLY: Father Tom Reese, he's a journalist, author and Jesuit priest. He writes the Signs of the Times column for Religion News Service. Father Reese, thank you.
REESE: Good to be with you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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