Local Catholic church prepares for the election of new Pope

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Catholics around the world are getting ready to celebrate the election of a new pope as the conclave begins on Wednesday.

All eyes will be on the Sistine Chapel to see white smoke and hear the famous words, "Habemus papam," which is Latin for "We have a pope."

Father Patrick says this conclave will be more in-depth compared to the 2013 conclave after Pope Benedict the Sixteenth stepped down due to health concerns, a first for the catholic church in nearly 600 years.

"The conclave that saw the election of Pope Francis, the church has never experienced what she experienced, especially with Pope Francis, because Pope Francis was different. I mean, he was different, of course. He said the cardinals went to a faraway land to pick a pope," said Father Patrick Nwokoye.

The conclave is an election, but not like traditional elections that we see here in the United States.

"This is not a political affair, but more so is a very sacred moment when each cardinal comes up with their particular vote," Nwokoye said.

"133 cardinals will be voting in this conclave and must be under the age of 80. Starting in the afternoon on May 7th, the cardinals will cast their vote in the first ballot. There must be a two-thirds majority vote in order to select the pope, which can happen after one day or even three years. If a pope is not selected, then the ballots will be burned and black smoke with pile from the chimney. However, this election, we could see white smoke sooner than later."

"This conclave is going to be very brief, and so I'm not putting any money on this, but I really do believe that the conclave will probably, you know, by Friday, we should have a pope," said Nwokoye.

As for what qualities the next successor to sit on the throne of St. Peter the church hopes to have, the most important one is to embody the teachings of Jesus to help unite people from all over the world.

"A man who truly loves Jesus. I mean, who would help us to know who Jesus is even more a man who we can call father, who understands the heart of his children," Nwokoye said.