Thorny issues await the new pope, and the men about to choose him

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Conclave acceptable to conscionable to take adjacent pope

Conclave acceptable to take adjacent pope, with large issues facing the faith 02:29

Vatican City — All the Vatican unit who volition beryllium progressive successful the 2025 conclave to prime the precocious Pope Francis' successor — from the cleaners to the cooks and custodians — person taken their oath of secrecy. The punishment for leaking accusation astir the past Catholic Church ritual is contiguous excommunication.

The 133 cardinal electors tasked with electing the adjacent pontiff volition instrumentality their ain oath connected Wednesday, wrong the Sistine Chapel, arsenic the conclave gets underway.

They person each arrived astatine the Vatican for the gathering, and they've been seen this week going successful and retired of meetings each day, wherever they sermon the merits of the men among their ain ranks — immoderate 1 of whom could beryllium chosen arsenic the adjacent pope.

From Wednesday, the cardinal electors volition stitchery successful the chapel, beneath Michelangelo's renowned Last Judgement fresco, to determine who should pb the world's 1.4 cardinal Catholics.

Among the issues that differentiate the presumed frontrunners for the occupation are immoderate highly arguable topics for Catholics, including precisely however acold the religion should unfastened its doors — if astatine each — to radical similar Andrea Rubera, his husband, and their 3 children.

Rubera, who has been successful his same-sex narration for years, told CBS News that "when Pope Francis died, I cried."

A decennary ago, Rubera and his hubby were struggling implicit whether they could rise their kids Catholic. Then helium got a telephone call.

"So I answered, and it was: 'Mr. Rubera, are you engaged astatine the moment, due to the fact that I spot you are you are not answering my calls, and this is Pope Francis.'"

He recalled his astonishment arsenic the precocious pontiff asked if helium could marque clip to talk. He did, and Francis encouraged the mates to behave similar immoderate different Catholic family. Rubera said he's disquieted that the adjacent pope whitethorn not beryllium arsenic anxious to invited him and his household into the church.

"My idiosyncratic fearfulness is that our lives, our families, our rights, could be... canceled," helium said.

Another large contented facing the adjacent pope volition beryllium the relation of women successful the church. There has been fierce statement wrong the Catholic assemblage for years astir whether women should beryllium allowed to go deacons, and yet adjacent priests. That door, adjacent during the comparatively progressive reign of Pope Francis, remained firmly closed.

But Kate McElwee, enforcement manager of the Women's Ordination Conference, told CBS News that, "on this question, women are not going to hold overmuch longer."

"Certainly there's a tipping constituent that we're facing," she said, predicting that if the Catholic Church doesn't connection caller opportunities soon, "I deliberation women volition ballot with their feet — they volition nary longer spell and enactment successful the beingness of the church."

When the caller pope is chosen down the closed doors of the conclave, he'll follow his chosen papal sanction and past beryllium taken to an antechamber successful the Sistine Chapel to enactment connected his papal achromatic robes.

That fitting country is called "La Stanza delle Lacrime," or, successful English, "the country of tears" — for each the popes who person cried determination implicit the centuries arsenic the gravity of their calling sinks in.