The cardinals have asked Catholics to pray for them and the conclave. What exactly should we be praying for? And should we be scandalized by the intermingling of politics and spirituality?

“I wish I did not have to vote because I wish that Francis were still alive. But it is a fact that he has left us,” Cardinal Stephen Chow told Gerard O’Connell in an exclusive interview.

The Vatican would not name two who are missing.

Preparations for the conclave to find a new pope accelerated Friday with the installation of the chimney out of the Sistine Chapel that will signal the election of a successor to Pope Francis.

The conclave that begins next Wednesday to elect a successor for Pope Francis is the first in 46 ½ years for which the Vatican hasn’t ordered a set of cassocks from the two best-known papal tailors.

Papabile: How do conclave watchers come up with their lists of the next pope—and should we trust them?