Archbishop Vásquez's calls for prayers as conclave begins

Archbishop Joe S. Vásquez shared this statement as the conclave at the Vatican began today:

We are praying for our own cardinal, Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, who is part of the conclave and one of the cardinal electors. We’re privileged that he is there representing our Church. We know that he carries us in his heart. We’re praying for him and all the other cardinal electors because we know that this is a very critical moment in the life of the Church.

Whoever the College of Cardinals chooses to elect, this decision will be made in a spirit of prayer. Some people may view this as some type of political process, but it is truly an act of prayer; we ask the Holy Spirit to guide the cardinals in choosing the next pope. We believe that the Holy Spirit is the one who’s going to make the decision — that is something that we believe and we cherish. And whoever it may be, we’re going to love the Holy Father, we’re going to be faithful to the Holy Father, and we’re going to follow his leadership in shepherding our Church. That’s why we entrust ourselves to the Holy Spirit in this whole process.