Conclave Chronicles: Francis Died Too Fast, and the College of Cardinals Is Adrift

I sincerely hope Mr Gurpegui is correct and that the younger Electors are looking to the older Cardinals, like Eijk and Sarah, for guidance. 

From Rorate Cæli

By Jaime Gurpegui for InfoVaticana

Rome is living these days in an atmosphere of unreality. The sentiment conveyed in the Eternal City, in the midst of the pre-conclave period, is a mixture of bewilderment, discretion, and silence.

Francis was gone with a speed that no one expected - not even his own allies - and the sectors most in favor of his pontificate seem to have dissolved away without the capacity of reaction. There are no meetings, no strategy, no slogans. The pontificate is over and “Franciscanism”, if it ever existed as a solid body, has imploded.

The College of Cardinals, for its part, presents itself as a surprisingly flat, horizontal body. There is no obvious leadership, no one sets the pace, no one raises his voice. But, as in the old medieval conclaves, what happens on the surface barely gives a glimpse of the real movements. And what is sensed these days is that many younger cardinals are looking to the emeriti. Yes, those who were relegated, marginalized, or simply retired by the previous regime, and who now walk the streets of Rome as if they were the true repositories of a resurgent tradition.

Prominent among these emeritus kingmakers are names like O'Malley, Ruini, Piacenza, Bagnasco, Cipriani, Antonelli, and Onaiyekan. They are there, talking to everyone, listening more than talking, and generating a kind of consensus that is not based on ideology, but on memory. They [the younger ones] are not looking for a new Pope with a program, but with solidity.

The authority of the elder bothers some who would like to be able to steer the conversations, and they try to discredit them, without success. Yesterday, it was the turn of the emeritus of Lima, Cipriani, who was the object of a crude campaign to try to question his presence in the general congregations, using an anonymous denunciation with no credibility in order to stir up the hornets' nest. Father Inca, secretary of the Peruvian Episcopate, quickly settled the debate: “He has much to contribute to the pre-conclave”.

A key moment of these days was Cardinal Re's homily in St. Peter's Square during the funeral. His intervention not only marked a strong presence of the older cardinals, but also had a very positive effect among the younger ones. Re's preaching was a clear example of how the older cardinals, with their experience and wisdom, manage to instill a calmness that has become very much appreciated in these uncertain times. It was a gesture of unity and control that contrasted with the sense of disorientation that still persists.

Yesterday, we also received some tasty details from the General Congregation of Cardinals. The interventions of Cardinal Willem Eijk and Cardinal Robert Sarah were very well received. The former, with his doctrinal clarity and accurate diagnosis of the ecclesial situation in Europe; the latter, with a voice that, as always, combines spiritual strength with a verbal elegance that does not need to shout to convince. The good tone that prevails among the cardinals is also surprising. There is courtesy, there is listening, and - despite the open wounds of recent years - there is a desire for unity.

In the atmosphere there reigns a sense of peace that, although fragile, seems to have replaced the intrigue and conspiracy that marked the previous weeks. The conclave has not yet begun, but Rome already smells of election. And in the meantime, the corridors of the Vatican quietly repeat an idea that imposes itself by pure evidence: the Pope is gone, and his people were not ready.