The College of Cardinals has requested for prayers from the faithful as it prepares for the upcoming conclave to choose the next pope.
The Cardinals said they feel “the need to be supported by the prayers of all the faithful,” since they are aware of their responsibility in choosing the next pope.

Cardinals pray before the Blessed Sacrament in a chapel near the New Synod Hall. (Photo courtesy of the Vatican Media)
“Faced with the enormity of the task ahead and the urgency of the present time, it is first of all necessary to make ourselves humble instruments of the infinite wisdom and providence of our Heavenly Father, in docility to the action of the Holy Spirit,” said the Cardinals.
The College of Cardinals also announced that all 133 Cardinal electors participating in the upcoming conclave have the right to vote for the new pope.
The Cardinals noted that paragraph 33 of the apostolic constitution Universi Dominici Gregis, which governs the conclave, allows 120 Cardinals to vote.
However, they said, the late Pope Francis dispensed with that numerical limit by creating more than 120 Cardinals under the age of 80. (Vatican Media)