Being sealed off from the world in the conclave to choose the new Pope was “immensely peaceful”, England and Wales’s most senior Roman Catholic has told the .
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, was one of 133 cardinals who were shut into the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel and later elected Pope Leo XIV on Thursday.
He told Breakfast on Saturday that nobody in the highly secretive meeting was saying who to vote for or who to not vote for, adding that there was “no rancour” or “politicking” among the cardinals.
“It was a much calmer process than that and I found it actually a rather wonderful experience,” he added.
Conclaves have taken place in the Sistine Chapel since the 15th Century and cardinals must have no communication with the outside world until a new Pope is elected. The recent conclave came after the death of Pope Francis on 21 April.
Cardinal Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, said that his mobile phone was taken off him, adding that he found he had “more time on my hands just to be prayerful, just to reflect, just to be still, rather than being constantly agitated… or prompted by what might be coming in” on his phone.
“For me, one of the experiences of these last few days was to learn a bit of patience, to just take this step by step,” he said.
“There was a calmness, a bit of solemnity,” he continued, adding that everyone he spoke to when in it was “peaceful and just wanting to do this well”.
At 79 years old, Cardinal Nichols was one of the oldest cardinals in the conclave as they must be under 80 to be eligible to vote.
There is no timescale on how long it takes for a conclave to elect a new Pope, with previous ones in 2005 and 2013 lasting two days. The conclave that elected Pope Leo lasted for one day.
“I think it was a short conclave in part because Pope Francis left us with a good inheritance,” the cardinal said.
“He left a college of cardinals who were dedicated, who had this desire for the church to be more missionary, and that led us forward actually very, very easily to the decision that we made.”
Pope Leo will be formally inaugurated at a mass in St Peter’s Square on 18 May, which delegations from countries around the world will attend.
The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Edward, will attend on behalf of King Charles, Buckingham Palace confirmed on Saturday.
Speaking about the new Pope, Cardinal Nichols said Pope Leo is “very decisive” in a “quiet way”, adding that he has seen him “make decisions which disappoint people but don’t destroy them”.
“A good thing about a pope is if he’s able to say, ‘No’, to you when he thinks something is not right and then give you a hug so you don’t go away offended, and I think he’s got that ability to do both those things, which is very important.”
