Cardinal Jean Marc Abelin of France was caught in a cou by a baby on Sunday at a church in the Monty district of Rome. Cardinal Peter Eld of Hungary called for the prayers of fellow Cardinals at a church near the Colosseum. The Congo's Cardinal Fridrin Ambongo joined priests from all over the world behind the altar of Western Roman churches.
The three Cardinals, although not candidates for becoming the next Pope, are considered candidates, but are among those celebrating Mass across Rome on Sunday, and one of the final public openings that begin on Wednesday, when the Conclave to elect a new Pope.
The campaign wasn't like that. However, in Homily, which Cardinals delivered, in their interactions with faithful people, they suggested the messages they might be giving to other Cardinals, and what kind of person they might want or want to be.
All Cardinals are assigned what is known as the Roman Masterpiece Church. When they are in town, they can choose to celebrate Mass there. Some already did that last week, like the major pope candidates, the Avelin Cardinal and the Lewis Tugle Cardinal of the Philippines. Cardinal Tagle faithfully attracted hundreds of Filipinos to his honorable church on the rough outskirts of St.Cell on Thursday. A little-known scattering of Cardinals covered the city on Sunday, giving enthusiastic Vatican watchers the opportunity to take photos of Eminence across town.
But the two Italian favourites, Cardinal's Pietro Parolyn and Pierbattista Pizzabara, did not take them to the pulpit on Sunday, acting like frontline runners in a political campaign that chose not to make a mistake and lose their election status.
Several curious Catholics, and news reporters, are scrutinizing every move in the Cardinal – anyway, they were hoping to appear in the honorable church of Cardinal Pizzabara and get a glimpse of the potential new Pope.
“If you want to go, I understand,” the priest of the Church of San Nofrio Argianicolo, on the hill overlooking Rome, said of dozens of parishioners. “The Pizzabara Cardinal will not be here today, tomorrow, tomorrow, the next day.”
The parishioners remained. A half dozen reporters flew off and chatted with Francesco Giaco, a 63-year-old banker who came to see the Pizzabara Cardinal, and happened to look like him.
(A reporter for Italian broadcasting station Rai asked Mr. Ziaco if he was a cardinal and whether he would go to a secret wearing civilian clothes.
The Cardinals, who celebrated the Mass, received enthusiastic support.
A crowd in the standing room only filled the Cathedral of Santa Frances Caromana, also known as Santa Marianova, and waited for the arrival of Cardinal Eldo, the archbishop of Estergom Budapest. A sequence of chairs painted in gold near the front of the church was reserved for senior officials, including the sacred Sea and the Hungarian ambassador to Italy.
A conservative Catholic favorite, the Cardinal, was his sacred cardinal, urged faithful to pray for the new Pope, who “must deepen the mission of the Church at a dramatic stage in human history.”
“The church today must face the first problem of all the problems of its own ambition,” he said.
The 72-year-old Eldo Cardinal did not interact with parishioners. He shook the reporter asking the question, but on his way out to say hello to the toddler, he lowered the car window.
The tone of Cardinal Mass on Sunday felt light. He opened the service at Santa Maria Imonty, thanking Our Lady of Mount for carrying out the “little miracle.” Later in the service, the parish priest, Pastor Francesco Pes, explained that a cardinal bag was stolen at Mass at the church last week. It was discovered three days later.
Father Pesse joked that he would become Pope and make Cardinal Abelin the Secretary of State. There was laughter around. Cardinal thanked the parishioners for making him feel like he is at home.
“Don't be afraid of the truth, it will set us free,” said Cardinal Abelin, 66, archbishop of Marseille, during his Homily. “Don't be afraid of someone who is different from us. Each man and each woman are brothers and sisters from which Christ rose.”
Cardinal Abelin individually appointed a confirmed teenager, one of the sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church, a week ago. He stopped by his front leg, shook hands with the elementary school student, and later joined the sacristy for chat. He spoke to the parishioners and patted the baby. He didn't talk to the reporters.
In San Gabriere Alcangelo, the Archbishop of Kinshasa, Cardinal Ambongo, was the Aborsa Cardinal, who emphasized the universality of the church, delivered from the altar along with priests from the Philippines, India, Madagascar and Italy.
Francis' favourite, 65-year-old Cardinal Ambongo, asked the faithful to pray for the Cardinals entering the Conclave to be illuminated by the Holy Spirit “to elect a universal church pope” ready to face the challenges of the modern world.
After the Mass, the Cardinal met with reporters and remained with a discipline-like message that jealously violated many political operatives.
“I asked for prayers, not for a specific cardinal prayer, but for a cardinal in a particular part of the world,” he said. “We pray for the pastor God desires for His universal church.”
Cardinal Ambongo dodged questions about gay, lesbian and transgender Catholics. He said that past comments about not being comprehensive or that women cannot become pope “it's not the time to talk about these things.”
He then greeted the parishioners, kissed the baby, and went to lunch in hopes of the pope election being a short one. “I hope it won't take a long time,” he said.
