Much of the process to select a successor for Pope Francis has been underway for days, as the cardinals have been in Rome since his funeral, Father Rob McKeon, the pastor at Saint Catherine of Alexandria Parish in the Archdiocese of New York, told Newsmax Sunday.
"The formal process, called the conclave, will begin on Wednesday, where they gather together," McKeon said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America Weekend. "The word conclave means with the key from Latin, so they, in a sense, get locked away. We would call it sequestered, you know, like a jury gets sequestered in the Vatican, and then they technically meet together starting Wednesday in the Sistine Chapel."
The meetings will consist of two voting sessions in the morning and two in the afternoon, and the cardinals could reach their decision quickly, or it could take a number of days, he added.
"The meetings part technically is happening now," said McKeon. "They've been meeting every morning this whole week, actually together in what's called a congregational gathering. They pray together and they partly set up like the overall structure and educate all the cardinals who may not be educated on what the process is."
On Monday and Tuesday, before the cardinals are sequestered, they will hold two sessions each day, McKeon said.
"Part of that's to get to know each other, but it's all that discussion about they think the Holy Spirit is guiding the church on where to go for the future," said McKeon.
Pope Francis was known for flirting with modern ideologies for the church, but McKeon said it's a "million-dollar question" about whether the cardinals will pick someone like him or someone more moderate or conservative.
"Hopefully the cardinals are very docile and submissive to the Holy Spirit and what the Holy Spirit wants and not what they personally want," he said. "But we'll get a sense of that certainly when it's announced, when the Holy Father is chosen."
Meanwhile, the cardinals could pick another non-European pope, including from the U.S. or Africa, as the College of Cardinals is "very international," said McKeon.
He noted that three potential contenders, all from Africa, are held in high esteem, adding that he "personally would love to see an African Pope chosen, but they tend to be pretty conservative for sure."
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