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Buenos Aires, Argentina, Apr 30, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

As the faithful of Buenos Aires bid farewell to Pope Francis with a symbolic embrace in the Plaza de Mayo after the heavily attended Mass celebrated by the local archbishop April 29, a familiar face appeared among the crowd. A male religious in a blue-gray habit crossed the Plaza de Mayo with a smile that has circulated on social media over the past week.

It was Brother Juan of the Community of the Lamb whose face went viral last week in a video recalling an emotion-laden moment with Pope Francis in Rome.

In the video posted by Upsocl, which lasts just a few seconds and has already drawn more than 2.3 million views, the Holy Father can be seen making his usual appearance after the general audience, greeting the people gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

At one point, Pope Francis’ face changes to an expression of surprise, and then he briefly makes the gesture of placing his hand over his heart upon seeing a familiar face in the crowd. The video depicts that moment as “the day Pope Francis forgot he was pope” when he recognized his friend in the crowd.

That friend, with whom they could then be seen giving each other a big hug, is Brother Juan, who, as he told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, was celebrating his 50th birthday that day when he attended the general audience at the Vatican.

Upon seeing him, “the pope was surprised, and when I told him I was 50, that’s when he hugged me.”

Regarding the pope’s death, the priest, who had known Jorge Bergoglio since 1996, said: “I always had a great friendship with him, and now it’s time to put into practice what he taught us. We must continue.”

Regarding the celebrations and tributes, he acknowledged that “it’s all very emotional,” adding that the pope “loved Thérèse very much, so he will continue to do good from heaven,” in reference to St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, one of the saints who inspires the charism of the Community of the Lamb, which is present in France, Argentina, Austria, Spain, the United States, and Poland.

A long friendship

In 1994, Bergoglio welcomed the community to Buenos Aires to found new small fraternities of brothers and sisters there. 

In 2002, at Bergoglio’s own initiative, the community settled on land adjacent to St. Joseph Carmelite Monastery in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Constitución, where the small monastery “Light of Nazareth” was built.

Such was the familiarity with this community that two days after his papal election, Francis, together with Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, called together all the brothers and sisters of the Community of the Lamb who were in Rome.

On that occasion, March 15, 2013, he told them: “Thank you for what you do in the Church. John Paul II and Pope Benedict insisted that more than teachers, we need witnesses. You have a great capacity to be witnesses. Pure grace. Preserve it… That bearing witness to life; prayer, liturgy; that asking for bread, hitchhiking; that witness of poverty and joy… Because people love you… And in fact, I want to thank you.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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CNA Staff, Apr 30, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Cardinals from around the world have made their way to the Vatican to participate in a centuries-old tradition known as a conclave — a meeting in which the College of Cardinals gathers to elect a new pope. 

The Catholic Church currently has 252 cardinals; however, only 135 of these cardinals can vote in the conclave because a cardinal must be younger than 80 years old to vote. 

Pope Francis during his pontificate appointed 108 of the 135 cardinal electors. There are 14 cardinals representing the United States and Canada  — 10 from the United States and four from Canada.

Here is a list of the cardinals from the U.S. and Canada taking part in the conclave:

United States

Cardinal Robert Prevost, OSA  

Prevost serves as the prefect for the Dicastery for Bishops and was the former superior general of the Order of St. Augustine. He also served as bishop of Chiclayo in Peru from 2015 to 2023. Pope Francis made Prevost a cardinal in 2023. He is 69 years old. 

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo 

DiNardo is the former archbishop of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, serving the archdiocese from 2006 to Jan. 20, 2025. He was made a cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007. He is 75 years old. 

Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke

Burke was bishop of La Crosse, Wisconsin, for almost nine years and founded the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe during this time. He then spent four years as the archbishop of St. Louis. He was made a cardinal in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI. From 2008 to 2014, he was the prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. He is 76 years old.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan 

Dolan has been serving as the archbishop of New York since 2009 and continues to do so at the age of 75. He was made a cardinal in 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI. 

Cardinal James Michael Harvey 

Harvey is the archpriest of the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome. He also served as the prefect of the Pontifical House for Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, who appointed him a cardinal in 2012. He is 75 years old. 

Cardinal Blase Cupich 

Cupich has served as the archbishop of Chicago since 2014 and was made a cardinal in 2016 by Pope Francis. He is 76 years old.

Cardinal Joseph Tobin

Tobin has been the archbishop of Newark, New Jersey, since 2017 and is a member of the Redemptorist order. He was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2016. He is 72 years old. 

Cardinal Wilton Gregory 

Gregory served as the archbishop of Washington, D.C., until Jan. 6, 2025. He became the first African American cardinal when Pope Francis appointed him in 2020. He is 77 years old.

Cardinal Robert McElroy

McElory succeeded Gregory as archbishop of Washington. He previously served as the bishop of San Diego. He was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2022. He is 71 years old.

Cardinal Kevin Farrell  

Farrell serves as the camerlengo of the holy Roman Church and prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life. He also served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Washington from 2002 to 2007 and bishop of Dallas from 2007 to 2017. He was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2016 and is 77 years old.

Canada

Cardinal Thomas Collins

Collins served as the archbishop of Toronto until 2023. In 2012, he was made a cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI. He is 78 years old.

Cardinal Gérald Lacroix, ISPX

Lacroix has served as archbishop of Quebec since 2011 and was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2014. He is 67 years old.

Cardinal Frank Leo

Leo has served as archbishop of Toronto since 2023. He was made a cardinal in 2024 by Pope Francis and is one of youngest cardinals at age 53. 

Cardinal Michael Czerny, SJ

Czerny has served as the prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development since 2022 and was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2019. He is 78 years old.

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CNA Newsroom, Apr 30, 2025 / 01:08 am (CNA).

Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne, Germany, expects the upcoming papal conclave to last longer than the relatively brief gathering that elected Pope Francis in 2013, the German prelate revealed Tuesday in Rome.

“I hope for a short conclave, but I believe everything is possible,” Woelki told EWTN Germany Program Director Martin Rothweiler and CNA Deutsch Rome correspondent Rudolf Gehrig. “I expect it won’t go as quickly as the last conclave. But maybe I’ll be proven wrong. I would be happy about that.”

The 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis lasted just two days, making it one of the shortest in modern history.

Woelki, who is participating in his second conclave, described a “fraternal and cordial atmosphere” among the cardinals currently gathered in Rome for the general congregations — the pre-conclave meetings where cardinals discuss Church matters.

“Most of the cardinals haven’t seen each other for a long time, and many are happy and have been happy to see each other again. That was my experience too,” Woelki said.

The cardinal characterized the meetings as having “a very concentrated, calm, factual working atmosphere,” noting that despite differences in perspectives brought from various particular Churches with different cultures and mentalities, “there is simply good cooperation.”

According to Woelki, the cardinals are addressing “all the topics that are already of importance,” including evangelization and “that theological deepening must take place with regard to synodality and the relationship between synodality and hierarchy.”

The discussions also cover broader societal challenges, including increasing secularization, the ethical implications of artificial intelligence, ongoing wars, societal and political polarization, and concerns about democracy’s diminishing significance while autocracies appear to advance.

Woelki emphasized that the conclave is “not a Church-political event” but a “spiritual event” where cardinals seek “to identify the candidate, also in prayer and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, whom the Lord has appointed for this task.”

The cardinal is currently staying at the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where all cardinals participating in the conclave will reside once it begins. With a touch of humor, Woelki admitted he hoped not to be reassigned rooms before the conclave, saying he was “too lazy, honestly, to pack everything again.”

This story was first published by CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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