Guatemalan cardinal Álvaro Ramazzini confirmed that he will travel to Rome to participate in the next conclave, after the Death of Pope Francis.
This was expressed on Monday, April 21 in a live interview with The 106.1 FM network, where he shared his impressions after receiving the news from the Vatican and explained details of the process that is coming to choose the new pontiff.
“He grabbed this news of his death,” Ramazzini said. “On the part of the Cardinals College, because they immediately sent us a message and already saying what will come in the future.”
The cardinal said that, although it has not yet been officially convened to the conclave, the cardinals have already been invited to participate in the previous liturgical acts, including the Funerals of Pope Francis.
“The cardinals are invited to go to Rome and surely also to prepare everything that will be the ritual, the Pope’s funeral, and then enter a conclave to be able to choose the successor”he explained.
O #Papafrancisco This Monday, April 21, 2025 at 7:35 in the morning. pic.twitter.com/i2pb9LYOIQ
– Vatican News (@vaticannews_es) April 21, 2025
Participation in the conclave
Ramazzini clarified that, being less than 80 years old, He has the responsibility of participating in the conclave as a voter.
“Yes, because I am not yet 80 years old,” he said. “Then, in my status as a cardinal under 80 years, I have the obligation to go to Rome to participate”.
Regarding how this process will be, he indicated that it is a total isolation for the participating cardinals:
“They gather us and we cannot have communication abroad with anyone, not even telephone, because it is about concentrating … so that the decision really is in the hands of us the cardinals.”
It will be his first conclave as a participant, and confirmed that all cardinals can be chosen as Pope, including him: “Yes, of course. All of us who participate in the conclave as voters, we all have the possibility of being chosen.”
Also read: conclave: what is it, what is it for and when it is celebrated
Pope Francis memories
During the interview, Ramazzini also shared his personal memories of the Pontiff. He said he met him before being a potato, when both agreed in the APPEARED CONFERENCEBrazil, in 2007.
“There he did an excellent job … he was in charge of the Editor’s Equipment of the Aparecida Document”he recalled. “Then I was surprised to discover in him an open, sensitive man, who loved being with the people.”
He highlighted the role of Pope Francis as a promoter of La Paz, remembering how he even approached the Russian ambassador to Rome at the beginning of the conflict with Ukraine, trying to stop war.
He also highlighted his missionary and pastoral spirit: “His pastoral dynamism when he makes all those trips with a missionary mood to be able to encourage faith … a man totally faithful to the vocation that God had given him,” affirmed.
A necessary continuity
Asked about the profile of the new leader who needs the Catholic Church, Ramazzini was emphatic:
“Someone who has the will and qualities to follow the path of Pope Francis. It would be very unfortunate that we chose someone to break all this path of approach and awareness that he began.”
He also recalled that in 2022 he presented his resignation to the Pope, as indicated by the ecclesial regulations when he turned 75. However, Francisco asked to continue:
“He answered me with a personal letter: ‘Look, I am 86 years old and move on, so too, you go ahead.”
Vatican’s times
Finally, he explained that these days the cardinals are invited, not obliged, to the liturgical audiences and activities, but that once the conclave is called, their participation is mandatory.
“God through, I want to be for the day of the funeral of Pope Francis. Then, we are immediately made the call to enter the conclave. There it is an obligation.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vowqong_qey
Also read: Pope Francis: Duel and tributes from Guatemala for the death of the pontiff