Looking Ahead to the Conclave: It's About the Holy Spirit, Not Politics

Catholic cardinals enter a building under the ceremonial watch of Swiss Guards.

The cardinals who will enter the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City on May 7, 2025, for the Papal Conclave will do so with profound humility and responsibility. They take their responsibility seriously, not as representatives of worldly interests, but as servants of the Church, united in prayer and discernment. Each one invokes the guidance of the Holy Spirit—not merely as a tradition, but as the very heart of the process.

As Father Sammie Maletta, our SJE Pastor, reminds us, the cardinals take their obligation “very seriously” and pray for the Holy Spirit throughout this sacred process. The Conclave is not a political event—it is a sacred moment led by the Holy Spirit. Whatever the outcome, we believe that the man chosen is the one God has called to lead the Church in this time.

And we, as Roman Catholics, are called not only to realize the significance of that, but to truly embrace it. As speculation swirls in the secular media, it's easy for people to get swept up in narratives of power, politics, and ideology. But we are called to be different. We are called to approach the sacred process with reverence, trust, and prayer. 

I have been praying for the Conclave and the soul of Pope Francis since his passing on April 21st. This is a prayer that several of my friends began as a Novena on April 26:

I kneel before you, O Virgin Mother of God, Our Lady of Guadalupe, the compassionate mother of all who love you, cry to you, seek you, and trust in you. I plead for the Church at a time of great trial and danger for her. As you came to the rescue of the Church at Tepeyac in 1531, please intercede for the Sacred College of Cardinals gathered in Rome to elect the Successor of Saint Peter, Vicar of Christ, Shepherd of the Universal Church.

At this tumultuous time for the Church and for the world, plead with your Divine Son that the Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, His Mystical Body, will humbly obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Through your intercession, may they choose the most worthy man to be Christ’s Vicar on earth. With you, I place all my trust in Him Who alone is our help and salvation. Amen.

Heart of Jesus, salvation of those who trust in Thee, have mercy upon us!

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Virgin Mother of God and Mother of Divine Grace, pray for us!

Raymond Leo Cardinal BURKE

April 24, 2025

As always, we are called to be faithful disciples who believe in the mysterious and sovereign work of the Holy Spirit. We are called to silence rather than speculation, to prayer rather than punditry, and to hope rather than fear. As St. Paul reminds us, “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God” (Romans 12:2). This transformation means  that we must resist the temptation to see the Church through secular lenses and instead remember that “the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7), even when the world focuses only on appearances.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms that “Christ governs His Church through the Pope and the bishops in communion with him” (CCC 894). We believe that the Holy Spirit does not abandon the Church, especially at such a critical moment. 

In a noisy world, we witness by our quiet confidence that God is always at work—guiding His Church, even when the path ahead is uncertain. Let us choose to be rooted in faith, not fear. Let our response to the Conclave be one of prayer, fasting, and unity, asking the Holy Spirit to “renew the face of the earth”—and the heart of the Church.

Father Maletta adds that without the Holy Spirit at the center of the Conclave, the outcome would not just be flawed—it would be disastrous for the Church. It is not human agendas, theological leanings, or political identities that determine the successor of Peter. It is God who chooses. That truth must anchor our trust and our hope.