By Katie Vasquez
As the College of Cardinals walked toward the tomb of the first pope – St. Peter – it formed a sea of red inside St Peter’s Basilica.
Father Sean Sukiel, the pastor of Holy Family parish in Fresh Meadows, Queens, was in the pews as the cardinals processed in – bringing prayers from the Diocese of Brooklyn.
“I was at the end of the row and all the cardinals passed by. So the future pope passed by me, and a few cardinals acknowledged my presence,” Father Sukiel told Currents News. “I said, ‘Your eminence, we’re praying for all of you.’ And so they said, ‘Thank you. keep the prayers coming.’”
The Mass for the election of the Roman pontiff serves as a moment to invoke the Holy Spirit for His light and strength to select the pope needed.
The pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Astoria Queens, Monsignor Cuong Pham, could sense that energy.
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“The Holy Spirit’s presence was very palpable, very strong in that Basilica today, because in a sense, we were representing the entire church at this moment, to pray for a very significant event,” Monsignor Pham said.
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals, reminded the men during his homily of the significance of their decision.
“This is a human act for which every personal consideration must be set aside, keeping in mind and heart only the good of Jesus Christ and the good of the Church and of humanity,” he said.
Cardinal Re also expressed a call to unity within the Church, which Father Sukiel agrees with.
“We are sheep without a shepherd. So we’re all praying for a good, fervent, energetic Holy Father who’s going to be not afraid to lead the Church, to guide the Church and to love the Church,” Father Sukiel said.
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Cardinal Re led the Mass in prayer: “Let us pray, then, that the Holy Spirit, who in the last hundred years has given us a series of truly holy and great pontiffs, will give us a new pope according to God’s heart for the good of the Church and of humanity.”
The conclave Mass is also meant to express the unity of the Universal Church, which is why both the princes who are taking part in the conclave and those over 80 who are ineligible to vote joined in the prayers at the Vatican.