Religious Education and Social Justice

Praying for the Papal Conclave

With the passing of Pope Francis, it is now the duty of the Catholic cardinals to select the 267th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. The cardinals will meet in Rome in a papal conclave.

What is a papal conclave?

A papal conclave is a meeting of the College of Cardinals whose responsibility it is to elect a new Pope. During the conclave, the cardinals are not allowed to communicate with the world. Each cardinal stays in a two-room suite in the Vatican. The cardinals take an oath that the proceedings of the conclave will remain secret.

After each vote during the conclave, smoke from the Vatican signals whether someone has been elected. Black smoke means no one was elected, and white smoke means we have a new pope.

Below is a series of videos that explain the process of the election of a new Pope.

During this time of mourning Pope Francis, and electing a new Pope, we pray to the Holy Spirit for His guidance and strength.

Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Come, Holy Spirit,

 fill the hearts of your faithful.

And kindle in them the fire of your love.

Send forth your Spirit 

and they shall be created.

And you will renew the face of the earth.

Lord, by the light of the Holy Spirit

you have taught the hearts of your faithful.

In the same Spirit

help us to relish what is right

and always rejoice in your consolation.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Holy Spirit Memory

Below is an excerpt from Walking with Jesus : A Way Forward for the Church written by Pope Francis.

The Holy Spirit reminds us; he reminds us of all that Jesus said. He is the living memory of the Church, and when he reminds us, he helps us understand the words of the Lord.

This remembrance in the Spirit and by virtue of the Spirit . . . is an essential aspect of Christ’s presence within us and within his Church. The Spirit of truth and charity reminds us of all that Christ said and helps us enter ever more fully into the meaning of his words. We all have this experience: one moment, in any situation, there is an idea and then another connects with a passage from Scripture. . . . It is the Spirit who leads us to take this path: the path of the living memory of the Church. And he asks us for a response: the more generous our response, the more Jesus’ words become life within us, becoming attitudes, choices, actions, testimony. In essence the Spirit reminds us of the commandment of love and calls us to live it.

A Christian without memory is not a true Christian but only halfway there: a man or woman, a prisoner of the moment, who doesn’t know how to treasure his or her history, doesn’t know how to read it and live it as salvation history. With the help of the Holy Spirit, however, we are able to interpret interior inspirations and life events in light of Jesus’ words. And thus within us grows the knowledge of memory, knowledge of the heart, which is a gift of the Spirit. May the Holy Spirit rekindle the Christian memory within all of us! And there, that day with the apostles, was Our Lady of Memory, who from the beginning meditated on all those things in her heart. Mary, our Mother, was there. May she help us on this path of memory.

Jane Wilkinson

Religious Education Leader