ATLANTA — No one is more vested in the process of choosing the next pope than the Archdiocese of Atlanta, with Catholic schools and churches in 69 counties in north and central Georgia.
Channel 2’s Karyn Greer had a chance to talk to the archbishop and auxiliary bishop about the process days before the funeral for Pope Francis.
“They will be sequestered in the Sistine Chapel, and the instructions will be given to them on the manner of voting, and there’ll be some talks and prayer and reflection, and there will be breaks where the cardinals will be able to talk among themselves,” Archbishop Gregory Hartmayer said.
It is being called the most diverse conclave in the history of the Catholic church.
The secretive process of choosing the next pope is set to begin today at the renowned chapel within the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City.
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“If they haven’t elected a pope by the fourth vote, then they will wait until the next day and do up to another four votes again. So we don’t know how it’s going to go until it happens. But it’s an ancient process,” Hartmayer said.
Last week, the chimney and a chimney camera were installed at the Sistine Chapel, which will signal to the world when a new pope has been chosen.
“It’s amazing in this technological world that we still use paper to vote and white smoke or black smoke to indicate the results of the vote. It’s an amazing tradition that the church maintains,” Hartmayer said.
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The big question that many around the world are asking is, will the next pontiff reflect the world and the Catholic church?
“I believe the figure is 80% of the current voting Cardinals would have been selected by Pope Francis,” Bishop Joel Konzen said.
Pope Francis appointed cardinals from all over the world, but particularly from places that had been unrepresented or not represented at all at the Papal Conclaves.
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