Cardinal Ambo: Conclave not ‘worldly spectacle’

FOUR FILIPINO CARDINALS Filipino cardinals Luis Antonio Tagle, Orlando Quevedo, Jose Advincula, and Pablo Virgilio David pose at the Pontificio Collegio Filippino, home of Filipino priests in Rome, after Pope Francis' funeral Mass on Saturday. —PHOTO BY CARDINAL ORLANDO QUEVEDO

Even as the Catholic Church observes a nine-day period of mourning after Pope Francis was buried on Saturday, speculations about his successor persist, with netizens promoting their favorite “papabile” or “electable” cardinal as the next pope.

But for Cardinal Pablo Virgilio “Ambo” David, the selection process should not be turned into “a worldly spectacle.”

“Let us remember that the election of a pope is not a political contest but a spiritual discernment. While it is natural to have hopes or preferences for certain personalities, we are ultimately invited to trust in the work of the Holy Spirit and the solemn responsibility entrusted to the College of Cardinals,” David, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said in a Facebook post on April 25, reiterating his earlier stand discouraging speculations about the conclave expected to begin on May 6.

People queue outside the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major (Santa Maria Maggiore), to visit the tomb of the late Pope Francis, in Rome, Italy. —REUTERS/HANNAH MCKAY

People attend Mass for the Vatican workers, following the funeral for Pope Francis, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.
—REUTERS/AMANDA PEROBELLI

“The conclave is a sacred moment, guided not by popularity or strategy, but by prayer, humility, and the collective listening of the Church’s shepherds to God’s will,” said David, who is joining the conclave for the first time.

He asked instead the Catholic faithful to support the cardinals “with our prayers, not our preferences.”

Fr. Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Public Affairs, has also discouraged Filipinos from campaigning for Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, who has been reported as among the front-runners.

Secillano said “this could create the impression that the conclave might be swayed by external influences.”