Cardinal Arborelius expects longer papal conclave

Rome/Bonn - One of the 133 papal electors, the Swedish Cardinal Anders Arborelius, does not expect a quick final announcement at the conclave in the Vatican. He is in favour of taking time in the search for a new head of the Church – for certain reasons.

Published on 05.05.2025 at 20:00 –

Swedish Cardinal Anders Arborelius assumes that the election of a successor to Pope Francis will take some time. "I think it will take a while," he told the German channel "Phoenix" on Monday, two days before the start of the conclave in the Vatican.

Other cardinals also wanted to take their time to get to know each other better, said Arborelius. There are also many good candidates. It is therefore not appropriate to make a decision too quickly.

Conclave not a political contest

Furthermore, the cardinal does not believe in dividing the papal voters into a conservative and a progressive group. One can be very conservative in some things - and progressive in other things, Arborelius pointed out. Although there are different views on some issues, the conclave is not a political contest between parties fighting for power. Rather, the aim is to find a pope with his own personality who "can really help the Church".

The cardinals are currently preparing for the election in Rome. They will be able to move into their accommodation in the Vatican from Tuesday morning. The conclave begins on Wednesday with a mass in St Peter's Basilica, in the afternoon the 133 electors will enter the Sistine Chapel for a first vote. (KNA)