Each weekday, the Archdiocese of Boston offers a noon mass at its Pastoral Center in Braintree. Rarely is every seat occupied. But it was a full house Tuesday, as Archbishop Richard Henning led the congregation in prayer for the coming conclave.
Wednesday, 133 cardinals begin the process of selecting a successor to the late Pope Francis. The process, held in the Sistine Chapel, is highly secretive and selective and it’s not uncommon for it to last days -- or even far longer. The only way the public knows of success or failure on a given day, is by the color of the smoke emanating from the Chapel. Black smoke indicates the Cardinals have not reached a 2/3 majority on a papal candidate; white smoke indicates they have.
“We continue to mourn for Pope Francis, but we look forward to what God has next in store,” said Henning. “I hope always for a Holy Father who is himself a man of humility and faith. Who will listen to the Holy Spirit and the people of God. My hope mostly is for a man who is authentic, a man who loves Jesus Christ, who lives by his word.”
Henning said the goal of the conclave is much different than that of a political election -- in which one side is a perceived winner and the other a perceived loser.
“The goal in his election in the Catholic Church is that we’re all happy, because the Holy Father is given to us by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,” he said.
Nonetheless, some Catholics weren’t happy with Pope Francis, who took the church in a more liberal direction than his predecessor, Pope Benedict. Francis spoke out about such issues as climate change, LGBTQ rights and the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
In fact, Pope Francis deeded his ‘Popemobile’ to the people of Gaza to serve as a mobile medical unit.
“I think Pope Francis often provoked responses because I think in some ways he wanted to provoke us to see the world in a different way,” said Henning. “To see each other in a different way. Sometimes those tensions are a part of family life and they’re not necessarily a bad thing. It’s bad if we treat each other with disrespect or fail to be charitable, but it’s okay to have disagreement and tension and talk to one another and learn from one another.”
Some parishioners attending Tuesday’s service expressed great affection for Pope Francis.
“He’s been more open and looking at things as they are now and many of the cardinals over there are ones he put in office,” said one woman.
“I absolutely loved him,” said another parishioner. “I think he was aptly named the People’s Pope.”
“I think he made a huge impact,” said another. “I think he’ll leave big shoes to fill.”
But others expressed a desire for a more traditionalist pope.
“Tradition does not change and truth does not change,” said one man.
“I sort of had mixed feelings about him,” said another. “But he was what we needed at the time. But I think there’s a new time coming and we might need something different.”
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
©2025 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/7QOJU3BNCJERBNKJC5LWTBYFLU.png)
