DILI, 07 May 2025 (TATOLI) – The conclave process begins today, and Timor-Leste’s Cardinal, Virgílio do Carmo da Silva, is among the 133 voting cardinals gathered in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel to elect the successor of Pope Francis.
Cardinal Virgílio is among 23 cardinals from Asia eligible to take part in the conclave.
Cardinal Virgílio was elevated by the late Pope Francis in 2022 and became the first cardinal from Timor-Leste, the second Catholic-majority country in Asia, with 1.3 million Catholics, to take part in the conclave.
Of the 37 living Asian cardinals, 14 are not eligible to participate in the conclave, as they have exceeded the age limit of 80.
The conclave process begins with a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at 10.am local time and will be presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re.
After the Mass, the 133 voting cardinals will gather around 4:15 p.m. in the Pauline Chapel to begin a procession to the Sistine Chapel.
“At the end of the procession inside the Sistine Chapel, each Cardinal elector takes the oath as prescribed in paragraph 53 of Universi Dominici Gregis,” the Vatican reported.
The Vatican said that, throughout the election process, the cardinal electors are not allowed to send letters or engage in conversations, including phone calls, “except in cases of extreme urgency.” “They are not allowed to send or receive messages of any kind, receive newspapers or magazines of any nature, or follow radio or television broadcasts.”
According to the Vatican, a two-thirds majority of the cardinal electors present is required to validly elect a new pope: “If the total number of electors is not evenly divisible by three, an additional vote is necessary. If voting begins on the afternoon of the first day, there will be only one ballot. On subsequent days, two ballots are held in the morning and two in the afternoon.” “After the votes are counted, all ballots are burned. If the ballot was inconclusive, a chimney positioned over the Sistine Chapel emits black smoke. If a Pope is elected, white smoke will billow out of the chimney.”
The duration of the conclave is uncertain, but the most recent one, which elected Pope Francis in 2013, lasted only one day, while the longest conclave—the election of Pope Gregory X in 1271—took nearly three years.
Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday at the age of 88, was laid to rest on April 26, 2025 in a simple tomb in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, a couple of miles away from the Vatican City.
Pope Francis, the Latin American pontiff, known for his humble style and concern for the poor, was the second pope to visit Timor-Leste—after St. John Paul II, who travelled to the country on 12 October 1989 during the Indonesian occupation. He was the first pontiff to visit the country since it gained independence from Indonesia in 2002.
During his three-day stay in the country from September 9 to 11, 2024, Pope Francis met with some of the country’s national and religious leaders, visited vulnerable groups, and spoke to massive crowds of the faithful in Dili. The Pope left a message of hope, unity, and commitment to peace, emphasizing the importance of youth and the protection of the cultural and spiritual values of the Timorese people.
TATOLI
