In choosing a pope, cardinals will call on a partner: The Holy Spirit

In choosing a pope, cardinals will call on a partner: The Holy Spirit

ROME — As the cardinals walk into the Sistine Chapel for the papal conclave, they’ll chant the plaintive prayer that their forebears have sung for centuries: Veni Creator Spiritus. Come, Holy Spirit.

In Choosing a Pope, Cardinals Will Call on a Partner: The Holy Spirit

ROME - As the cardinals walk into the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday evening to open the papal conclave, they’ll chant the plaintive prayer that their forebears have sung for centuries: Veni Creator Spiritus. Come, Holy Spirit.

In the evenings, while the cardinals will enter the House of the Six to open the papal conclave, they will be touched by the prayer which their ancestors have spent centuries: Come the Creator Spirit - Vino, Holy Spirit!

The Cardinal Electors, Then and Now - First Things

Does a conclave elect the man the Holy Spirit desires to lead the Church? History teaches that sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s view was that too many poor popes have been elected to say that the man who emerges is always God’s choice. At the same time, the Holy Spirit, in Ratzinger’s memorable phrase, offers the “assurance . . . that the thing cannot be totally ruined.” The Holy Spirit does not get a vote in …

Conclave: Does the Holy Spirit choose the pope?

Every time a conclave is convened, many say that the cardinals’ choice of pope will be guided by the Holy Spirit. But how exactly does that guidance work? According to Christian spirituality, the Spirit does nothing without human cooperation—and yet, does a great deal.