Vatican City Awaits the Next Pope as Cardinals Prepare for Conclave

VATICAN CITY — As the world anticipates the election of the next pope, the smallest sovereign state is alive with vibrant activity. Groups of pilgrims passionately chant and sing while they carry large wooden crosses over the old cobblestones leading to St. Peter’s Basilica. Tourists in polo shirts jostle with street vendors, negotiating over 1 euro fridge magnets featuring the late Pope Francis. Espresso machines puff steam, taxi drivers maneuver through the streets with impatient honks, and crowds gather under the sky’s shifting clouds, making this historic city feel like the hub of the universe this week. Yet, the real drama will unfold nearby, shrouded in silence and secrecy.

On Wednesday, 133 cardinal electors hailing from around the globe will convene beneath the divinely inspired frescoes of the Sistine Chapel to conduct one of the most secretive ballots. Confined to the premises and isolated from the outside world, they are tasked to vote—and vote perhaps multiple times—until they appoint the new leader to shepherd 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide. As the cardinals navigate the Vatican, they are revered almost as celebrities, their presence capturing thrilled glances from onlookers near St. Peter’s.

“God bless and have a good day,” Cardinal Frank Leo, the Archbishop of Toronto, commented with a friendly smile when approached by NBC News in the charming maze of Rome’s Borgo neighborhood. In this area, bustling with quaint lanes and traditional trattorias, many cardinals, strangers to one another, have been spotted dining recently. “I really can’t say any more right now,” Leo added cheerfully, giving a thumbs-up, leaving a group of young people in awe upon realizing who had just passed by. Although the electors will seek divine guidance, the decision ultimately lies in the hands of these men, noted Regoli, a professor and priest in Rome. “There is often talk of spirituality,” he explained, “but, in the end, this election is very much like any other in the world.”