A British cardinal involved in the secretive papal conclave has revealed how Pope XIV reacted upon being elected – and why the new pontiff ‘won’t be afraid of tyrants’.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, 79, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, was one of 133 cardinals involved in the conclave and said ‘every single step was meticulously followed’.
And now that he is no longer sequestered from the outside world, Cardinal Nichols told how former Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost reacted when asked if he accepted his position as leader of the Catholic Church.
He said: ‘He took it very matter of factly, there was no real emotion. He took it all in his stride.
‘There was a real sense of elation when he accepted the position of Pope. I was standing just a few feet away as he spoke and he was so very calm.’
Cardinal Nichols also detailed why the black smoke, which signalled no Pope had been elected after the first vote on Wednesday, was delayed by more than two hours.
And he lay the blame with papal priest Raniero Cantalamessa, 91, who had over run his sermon by almost an hour, leaving the crowd of 45,000 people outside the Vatican on tenterhooks.
He said: ’I think it’s well known that Fr Cantalamessa gave a very long talk…it must have been an hour or more. One person said it was his valedictory address, and it was splendid stuff.
‘It was suggested that it would be half an hour at the most, but it went on a lot longer. Patience is a good virtue, and it can’t be easily demonstrated unless you are doing it.’
Revealing the details of how the Conclave worked Cardinal Nichols said: ’There was a remarkable sense of fraternity, with people from all over the world.
‘There was no distraction from mobile phones and there was a great spirit among the group of us.
‘It was a time of great patience because we followed every single step meticulously and that took time, taking the other took a long time and the process of voting also took a long time.’
For Cardinal Nichols, who is the Archbishop of Westminster, it was also his first Conclave, and he just made the 80 years old cut off limit.
In an intriguing comment, speaking about a former Pope Leo, Cardinal Nichols said: ’In 452 AD Leo turned back Attila the Hun on the edge of the city of Rome, so he won’t be afraid of tyrants.’
When asked whether he was referring to President Donald Trump, Cardinal Nichols replied: ‘You might hear that, I didn’t say it.’
He went on: ‘It was a very rapid decision, just four votes, and I think that’s because Pope Francis left a College of Cardinals that shared his vision and spirit to be a missionary church.
‘I would say Pope Leo is a citizen of the world, and once we reflected, it was pretty clear that here was a man who as bringing the right depth to the church and experience.
‘There was actually quite a bit of me that didn’t want to leave because it was such a spiritual experience in there and I will treasure it deeply.
‘He is very calm, clear in his mind decisive and I’ve seen him resolve difficulties that didn’t leave enemies behind, and he can pull people together.’
Then giving his first reaction to his beloved Liverpool winning the Premier League, he told the Mail: ‘That was just as ecstatic.’