VATICAN CITY
NEWS.com.au
[with live feed]
CARDINALS heard a final appeal for unity before sequestering themselves in the Sistine Chapel for the conclave to elect the next pope, as they celebrated Mass amid divisions and uncertainty over who will lead the 1.2 billion-strong Catholic Church and tend to its many problems.
A Gregorian chant wafting through St Peter’s Basilica, the 115 cardinal electors filed in wearing bright red vestments, many looking grim as if the burden of the imminent vote was weighing on them.
A few hundred people braved thunderstorms and pouring rain to watch the mass on giant TV screens in St Peter’s Square. A handful knelt in prayer, eyes clenched and hands clasped.
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