Cardinals gather in St. Peter’s Basilica for final Mass before conclave to choose new pope

Cardinals entered St. Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday for a final Mass before the conclave to elect the successor to Pope Francis after his death last month.

The Mass comes before the private process to select a new leader of the Catholic Church.

The dean of the College of Cardinals, Giovanni Battista Re, prayed that the 133 cardinals find wisdom, good counsel and understanding before entering the Sistine Chapel to begin making their choices for the next pope.

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The cardinals from 70 countries will be isolated from the outside world, with their cellphones surrendered and airwaves around the Vatican jammed to prevent all communications until a new pontiff is elected.

Francis named 108 of the 133 cardinals, selecting many pastors in his image from countries like Mongolia, Sweden and Tonga that had never had a cardinal before.

Many had not met one another until last week and explained that they needed more time to get to know one another, leading to questions about how long it could take for one of them to secure the two-thirds majority needed to become the 267th pope.

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"Wait and see, a little patience, wait and see," Cardinal Mario Zenari, the Vatican’s ambassador to Syria, said as he arrived for the final day of pre-vote discussions.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.