DOUGLASTON — Like millions of Catholics around the world, Fernando Silva spent the morning of May 7 praying for the cardinal electors as they deliberated during the opening of the papal conclave to select a successor to the late Pope Francis.
“I pray for the Holy Spirit to guide them so that they will make a decision that is good for the church,” said Silva, who came to the Immaculate Conception Center to attend a Mass celebrated by Bishop Robert Brennan to mark the start of the conclave.
The 133 cardinals eligible to vote for the new pope began their deliberations in secrecy behind the locked doors in the Sistine Chapel in Rome on May 7. The cardinals, known as cardinal electors, were cut off from the outside world as they began their historic and solemn duty.
RELATED: Choose the Pope the World Needs, Dean Urges Cardinals Before Conclave
By evening in Rome (around 3 p.m. New York time), black smoke poured from the Sistine Chapel chimney signifying that the electors had taken their first vote but that no one had obtained the two-thirds total necessary to earn the papacy.
Bishop Brennan, who organized the Mass specifically to coincide with the start of the conclave, said he wanted the Diocese of Brooklyn to be united in prayer with the College of Cardinals and Catholics throughout the world at that moment. “The church is gathered in prayer at this time,” he added.
The Mass, which took place in the main chapel of Immaculate Conception Center, was attended by auxiliary bishops, priests, deacons, and laypeople.
While much of the world is focusing on political dynamics, like whether the new pontiff will be a conservative or a progressive, Bishop Brennan urged the faithful to focus on the big picture.
“It’s not about liberal or conservative. It’s not about personality,” he said, adding that it is really about spirituality.
First and foremost, Bishop Brennan said, a pope must proclaim Jesus Christ as the risen Lord and “build up the unity of the Church.”
Silva, a parishioner of St. Mary Gate of Heaven Church in South Ozone Park, said he is hoping that whoever the new pope is, Catholics will embrace him.
“We need to be united as a Church,” he added.
Tessa Macaulay, a parishioner of St. Anastasia Church in Douglaston, said she was glad she attended the Mass.
“I like the idea of all of us in the diocese being united and praying for the cardinals,” she said. “It makes me feel good to be a part of something big like this.”
Macaulay came to the Mass with her niece, Nan Adams, a parishioner of St. Ignatius of Loyola in Manhattan. “I’m praying that they make a good decision,” she said of the cardinals.
Gloria Losado, a parishioner of St. Mary Gate of Heaven Church, said that even though the cardinals are men of deep faith, it’s important for everyday Catholics to pray for them.
“They need all the help they can get,” she added.