On Our Knees in Hope: The Conclave, the Papacy, and the Call to Prayerful Reverence

The Catholic Church stands once again at the cusp of a pivotal historical moment: a conclave looms; and the Chair of St. Peter, the most enduring office of spiritual and sociopolitical authority in the world and in history, awaits its next successor. This isn’t just another election. It is, rather, a watershed moment in salvation history, culture, and Catholic identity. 

In every era, the conclave has represented more than ecclesiastical and administrative housekeeping; it has been a barometer of the Church’s doctrinal and spiritual health, a flashpoint for cultural engagement, and, perhaps most importantly, a call to arms—not of violence but of prayer, penance, and spiritual vigilance. I often note: the whole world stands still when a pope passes. All eyes are on Rome until the Chair of Peter is occupied again.

The Papacy is an Anchor in the Storm

From the moment Jesus told Peter, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church” (Matthew 16:18), the papal office became the visible foundation and structure of Christian unity. The pope is not merely a symbolic figurehead or a spiritual influencer; he is truly the Vicar of Christ on Earth—the earthly shepherd of the bride of Christ tasked with preserving doctrinal purity and guiding the flock toward eternal life in her divine bridegroom.

In a world increasingly hostile to truth and order, the Petrine ministry must shine with clarity and conviction. Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) once wrote, “The Pope is not an absolute monarch whose thoughts and desires are law. On the contrary: the Pope’s ministry is a guarantee of obedience to Christ and to His Word” (Homily, April 24, 2005). This encapsulates the central tension of our time: will the papacy remain a bastion of truth to a world in error, or should the world expect that the Church will be obscured by ambiguity? Mankind desperately needs a beacon of unyielding truth from the papacy, now more than ever.

Conclaves as Historical Crossroads

The history of conclaves is littered with moments of deep crisis—and divine providence. The conclave that elected Pope Leo XIII in 1878 came after the papacy had lost the Papal States and was relegated to the Vatican walls. Yet Leo, under siege, produced Rerum Novarum, shaping a refined trajectory of Catholic social teaching. The election of Pope John XXIII in 1958 was seen as an interim papacy. Instead, it sparked Vatican II—a council still echoing, for better and worse, through every parish in the world.

This upcoming conclave, however, bears an added weight. We live in a time of internal confusion and external aggression. Inside the Church, doctrinal ambiguity has frayed unity. There is no way around this. Regardless of how well we think about Pope Francis, we can all acknowledge the linguistic ambiguity that led to numerous misrepresentations of Catholic doctrine globally.  Regardless of how well we think about Pope Francis, we can all acknowledge the linguistic ambiguity that led to numerous misrepresentations of Catholic doctrine globally. Tweet This

Outside the Church, secularism, moral relativism, moral degeneration, and anti-Christian hostility dominate culture. And the world is watching. The next pope will be elected in a hyper-connected digital world where every word, tweet, off-handed statement, interview, and gesture becomes instantaneously global. The ramifications of this conclave are immense—spiritually, culturally, and historically.

Cultural Consequences: The Pope as Moral Witness

For centuries, even those outside the Church recognized the pope as a unique moral compass. Soviet dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn acknowledged the moral authority of John Paul II in toppling communism. “The Pope’s voice was one of the few that did not betray truth” (Harvard Commencement, 1978).

Today, that perception is waning. The papacy has, in some circles, become indistinguishable from political punditry or misshapen compassion. When Catholics lose reverence for the papal office, how can we expect the world to honor it? And if the world loses reverence for the papal office, it loses appeal to one of its last public transcendent touchstones. This is not nostalgia; it is about the survival of epistemological objectivity. 

In his 2003 Ecclesia de Eucharistia, Pope John Paul II warned that “the weakening of faith in the Eucharist inevitably leads to a weakening of the sense of the Church.” The same applies to the papacy: diminish the papal office, and the entire command of the Church upon the global culture begins to collapse under the weight of its own uncertainty.

Reclaiming Reverence: Not Celebrity, But Sanctity

Catholics must begin by reclaiming personal and collective reverence for the papal office—not as cultish ultramontanism but as a mature recognition of sacred authority, while still charitably recognizing issues where they might be. This begins, proceeds, and ends in prayer. We must, as a Church, intercede constantly for the cardinals who will cast ballots, for the man who will become pope, and for the mystical Body of Christ—that it might rally faithfully and prayerfully around its visible shepherd on earth.

Too many Catholics engage in papal speculation like political theater, forgetting that conclaves are not elections—they are discernments. The Holy Spirit is the principal elector, but He is not a bulldozer. He requires docile and faithful hearts. St. Catherine of Siena called the pope the “sweet Christ on earth.” If that language strikes modern ears as excessive, it is only because modern man has lost his sense of the supernatural.

Why Now Matters More Than Ever

This conclave will determine whether the next generation grows up with a pope who is doctrinally precise or one who takes the Church down a path of linguistic uncertainty; and in a world where there is virtually no concrete grounding for transcendental veracity, doctrinal, catechetical, pastoral, and linguistic precision is needed more than ever if the next generation is to find an anchor amid the anarchic storm of secular religiosity. 

This conclave, therefore, will shape the voice of the Church in answering questions of bioethics, gender ideology, sexual immorality, globalism, war, economics, and ecumenism. Precision of theological language is not a luxury; it is a necessary obligation of the Holy See. It may even determine whether Catholicism will regain the credibility it has lost in the public square due to modern antagonism and the sexual abuse crisis.

The cultural implications are already enormous and are set to be even more so. Catholic witness has always shaped civilization. The Renaissance, the universities, the sciences, the arts—all bear Catholic fingerprints. But they flowered when the Church spoke with clarity, unshaken authority, and boldness. In contrast, silence, ambiguity, or confusion from Rome sends tremors through the foundations of Western culture itself.

Consider the 2023 Synod on Synodality: while it was meant to foster listening, it exposed deep divisions in the Church on matters of doctrine—particularly regarding human sexuality and the Sacrament of Holy Orders. The next pope will either resolve this confusion or allow it to be amplified. There isn’t neutral ground here. The Church cannot afford ambiguity. “If the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle?” (1 Corinthians 14:8).

What Can Catholics Do?

Three things: Pray. Fast. Witness.

1. Pray daily for the cardinals and the next pope. Use the ancient prayer “Oremus pro Pontifice” even before a new pope is named.
2. Fast for clarity and courage from our father Cardinal Bishops. Offer sacrifices for the purification of the Church.
3. Witness to the majesty of the magisterium. Speak well of the papacy—not in blind allegiance but in mature respect. Encourage catechesis on the Petrine office in your families, schools, and parishes.

A Church on Her Knees Will Rise

The world doesn’t need a celebrity pope or a popular media pope. It needs a saint. It needs a successor of Peter who will not simply manage decline but will preach Christ crucified—boldly, joyfully, unflinchingly, regardless of the cost. In light of this, we, the faithful, must approach this conclave not with anxiety but with active faith in Christ and trust in His established papal office.

The gates of Hell are pressing hard against the walls, and, to be honest, they always have; but they will not prevail. Now is the time to recall who we are—and who leads us. The papacy is accountable to the judgment of Christ. This should both console us and fill us with dread. Heavy is the judgment to he who wears the papal tiara. Our future Holy Father needs us, his spiritual children, to love him and pray for him constantly.

As Pope Gregory the Great once wrote, “Where the shepherd is not alert, the wolf soon finds his way into the fold” (Pastoral Rule). Let us pray, then, for a vigilant shepherd, a holy conclave, and a Church ready once again to be a pillar and bulwark of truth and a light to the nations.