>> As expected it was black smoke billowing out of the Sistine Chapel today.

135 eligible Cardinals have gathered for the first papal conclave in 12 years.

Sequestered in the Vatican's sworn to secrecy and charged with electing the next pope after Wednesday's loan ballot, cardinals are set to vote for times each day until two-thirds of them agree on a successor to the late Pope Francis.

Tens of thousands of people have gathered in Saint Peter's Square with their eyes on that famous chimney awaiting the white smoke.

That signals a new holy see.

Joining us to discuss the process and more about the potential next pope are Michael Murphy, director of Loyal Universities, Hank Center, father Patty Gilder, a priest of the Midwest province of the Society of Jesus.

And Paula McQuade, a professor of English and Catholic studies at DePaul University.

Thank you all for joining us to talk about this.

Father Gilder, you know, Cardinals are sequestered during the vote.

They're sworn to secrecy.

Why is that so important to the process?

Yeah, I think it's and it's especially important not just for historical reasons because as we all know, they're been power players in a political agents interested affecting the outcome in their favor.

And Paul of papal elections in the past.

>> But really these days we want to have see Christie not to keep things, you know, private underneath of but relief to have a space for freedom.

So we want to be able to have Cardinal electors be able to really say what they think is going on in the church in the world to one another in an atmosphere of openness and prayer.

And so the secrecy really is meant to protect that.

It it seems a little strange for us as Americans, because we're so used to using the public sphere as a place to protect freedom of speech.

We bring everything into the open there.

But really the objective for the secrecy is the exact same a space where people can say what they really think.

Pray together thing together.

Hopefully elect a beautiful pup.

Dan Chicago, we tend to think of the back room is something unethical.

But in this case it does help to protect the process.

You know, Palm equated what sort of of meetings and conversations whether formally or informally are cardinals having him in the run-up to the I actually think a lot of the work happens in the run-up.

There's 2 or 3 days.

>> Before that, the actual before they're sequestered in which the Cardinals are meeting with one another and they're giving speeches which are called interventions and they can be absolutely crucial in deciding who the next pope is.

I mean, it's rumored, for example, that Francis, when the main reasons he was elected 2013 is because he gave an intervention urging percent of a petty saying that the that we need to bring Christ out into the world and that the other cardinals, I think we can't discount that they're actually moved and feel himself to be inspired by the Holy Spirit.

And by what a lot of these speeches are sense.

I think it's incredibly important.

What happens before the conclave as important as what happens after during?

Yeah, absolutely.

And you know, Michael Murphy, the Pope Francis widely seen as as a progressive leader.

>> You know, in some of observers say a lot of the shifts were especially in in tone and in public presentation even more so perhaps than, you know, changes in in doctor him.

How do you think Frances is legacy might shape cardinals thinking during this process?

That's a great question.

I think about Pope Francis in a progressive.

I mean, depends on who you ask.

You know, is the gospel progressive >> You know what model the church ascribe to prescribe but legacy his fingerprints are on this.

And and the kind of up in loving way, you know, having appointed over 80% of the cardinals, are they all go walk in lockstep with Francis likely not.

You know, there's there's a freedom that.

>> but but the the way he touched the world remember vividly 2013 on cell phones were going off and you know, and he's was a global citizen.

And I can think of no better leader globally.

The Pope, Francis, especially at this moment.

The media's only got more robust, but I think his touches tenderness.

His hope his joy.

These are the things I'm hoping will up make the imprint on the church.

>> Although it's it's obviously tough to say, you know, a few of the least reported frontrunners heading into the conclave.

There's Cardinal Peter Paulo Arlene's that the secretary of state under Pope Francis, Colonel Pure Battista.

Pizza You know, biblical scholar, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, the so-called Asian Francis currently staying away from the Philippines.

Cardinal Peter Eyre do from Hungary.

Some more conservatives favorite for the Gilder does does being a frontrunner mean much or does the enter a poll believe the Cardinal Maxim still home to I think it I think the latter will hold true in these cases.

But for me, that is actually a very exciting thing because there have been times where the church, I think collectively knew what the issues were that we were facing.

>> And that gave us a stronger sense of how we might be able to respond to them, really who we might be able to look to, to help us respond to these kinds of issues.

I am not convinced yet that the church has has quite a sense of what the problems are that we're facing.

And then those those interventions, as you were saying there, Paula, those are the kinds of moments where people from all over the world, this is highly international, the most international church.

But we've ever had here, representative the Cardinal, it can can really respond to 2 one another by telling the stories that they've heard from being pastors of the people of God around the world, if they can be attentive to one another in that way, we're going to see something very surprising happened here and their conversations and in their Well, you know, and you to that point McQuaid, Pope Francis worked to bring in a lot of voices, especially from outside of Europe, places where >> the church is growing.

Regions like Africa and Asia.

I mean, I think is a fair to say we expect that to affect this conclave.

If, you know, I think it will absolutely affect conclave.

How affect the conclave?

I don't know.

I mean, is what say because I think it's well, you can generalize.

I think out.

It's very difficult.

Once you get in there and you listening.

So I think affect it.

He's also, as you know, appointed a lot of Cardinals They're appointed by him.

But I'm just not sure I wouldn't.

I wouldn't say it's predictive.

It's going back one of the things that we've we've seen a little bit is that in the general and general interventions here.

>> The initial interventions over the last handful of days, the first ones were often made by some of the older cardinals.

Those and they're all were all there, all But the ones who are overweight could not participate in the election.

And so what that allowed the those for speeches when we people notice that they were not overly critical of Francis, but they were critical and people were saying, well, we're not entirely sure about some of these changes that have been made.

But as time went on and some of the younger cardinals who are also electors from all over the world got to speak.

What we tend to to see were people who were more in tune with what we call the Sun Odle the listening the accompanying style of Pope Francis.

That doesn't mean they agree with everything that Francis did either.

But it does mean that we're moving forward in the same kind of spirit.

And those men were the ones who will be in the room and be able to make these decisions that's real quick that sat because what you're suggesting is a different in style that the style defense is going to be more important.

>> And the listening rather than with ideas that since I got Michael, you want answered sure office on to say, yeah.

70 countries.

>> This the this time around in 2013, there are cars from 48 countries so that that's the good news.

More global church Francis vision.

The bad news is they don't know each as well.

But they also spent 2 to October together and Senate.

So they do each other a lot of ways to think about, you know, handicap in this papacy.

The pope I mean, is people been betting on this is the 16th but on I think the technology is touch this conclave more than anyone.

But I'm also gonna say that with all that kind of like social media.

>> Kind of in trouble and instrumentals ation tech that there's a hunger for transformation from non-Catholics who are we were sympathetic this time around to the conclave in the papacy that I've noticed a long time.

It does seem like there is a great degree of attention on this, even from among cap, you know, not not you know, do you think that's down in some way to the sort of work Francis did as a global citizen, perhaps certainly policy agree.

Absolutely.

And to social media he was I think the next pope.

>> I think they are looking for someone is going to be adept to social media and how to use it for quite a bit of a Catholic.

Sometimes sure then then with that than outside of that 100%.

you know, for Graney said, there's the pope has to balance a lot of rules.

You know, they're they're a pastor there, a public face there, an administrator.

What are some of the qualities that you're looking for in the next pope when it comes to balancing those things?

Yes, if we just take those 2 trajectories that you're naming for us, Nic, I think those are very helpful because we can kind of look, as we would say, and, you know, in a little bit of line out intra, we can look out extra be out.

Intra needs are significant.

The church has real financial issues going on right now.

>> And there are there are structural changes that Pope Francis has begun that need to be stabilizer solidified or altered in ways that the next pope will see fit to do.

we need someone who is a really astute administrator, someone who knows how to work with others.

Collegiately collaboratively to declare stable rolls.

What are you really taken care of and how are you doing that?

That internal stuff does need to be done, but the external stuff, Pope Francis just shown so much there.

So we really do need someone who can be the Latin word.

Also for the another Latin word for the papacy is pontifex.

It just means to be a bridge builder.

And so we want to pope who can both bridges build a bridge internally to people inside the church and externally to those who are far looks like because there's mean the American viewers out here there is a local guy.

Colonel Robert Priebus, who is the only probably I've heard in a long time.

probably not going to happen, but he has the right temperament patties.

do sing here.

He's a great administrator, a balance.

position, a global person.

So that might be one of these dark horses be very interesting to see what comes of this.

I know you through