A good and holy man

Purple Catholic Saturday Post

May 03, 2025

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Good morning and happy Saturday.

All eyes will be on Rome this week as the 131 cardinals who will elect the next pope will enter the Sistine Chapel and begin the conclave.

In both Catholic and secular media, there have been many predictions over the past week about who is and who is not papabile. I have no particular expertise on the matter and will leave it to Vaticanistas who know more than I do to share that speculation.

What I do know is that the cardinals who are voting have made it clear they know the gravity of their task. They must elect a good and holy man, ready to lead the Church over the coming decades.

The question will be to what his priorities are. As I have linked below, there is some reporting this week about the conversations taking place amidst the general congregations and they appear to be tense at times.

But such is the process. I would be concerned if I were reading that the cardinals were nonchalantly participating in these meetings as if it didn’t matter.

No, the cardinals know what they must do.

Our times call for a good and holy man to take up the torch and be the light to the nations, as St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis were in this century. These were good and holy men. They knew the responsibility they were undertaking and did their best to be a light for us and everyone.

What we must do is continue to pray for them and for the church. The cardinals are fallible men who must elect another fallible man to be the Vicar of Christ on Earth.

It is in times like these that it is especially important to set aside our own cares for a minute to pray for the Church and the world. I was moved this week when I read about the death of Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas, the world’s oldest person. In an interview in 2024, she said the secret to longevity was praying every day for all the people of the world.

Here is a prime example of a woman, a Catholic, who set her own cares aside to take care of the needy in her community and to think of the rest of the world. Are we doing that right now?

This week as you meditate on the Rosary or pray the Liturgy of the Hours, remember to offer up a prayer for the cardinals that the Holy Spirit might guide them to pick a good and holy man to lead us on.