Celebrating a Mass at his titular church in Rome, Cardinal Wilton Gregory – an archbishop emeritus of Washington who will be among the cardinal electors participating in the conclave to elect a new pope that opens on May 7 – encouraged people to pray for the upcoming conclave and for the next pontiff.
In his homily at a May 4 Mass at his titular church, Santa Maria Immacolata Concezione a Grottarossa (Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in the Grottarossa area of Rome), Cardinal Gregory referenced that day’s Gospel reading from John 21:1-19, when Jesus said to Peter, who later became the first pope, “Simon, son of John do you love me more than these?”
Cardinal Gregory noted, “The cardinals who will enter the conclave next Wednesday are looking for the one to whom Jesus now asks this same question. The Office of Peter is passed down to one whose love must become more intense and complete as he will face many challenges that will follow from caring for the entire flock of Christ in today’s world.”
The cardinal then added, “We must all pray for that one with greater intensity during these next few days.”
Concluding his homily, Washington’s retired archbishop underscored the importance of prayers for the upcoming conclave and for the pope who will be elected. Cardinal Gregory said he returned to his titular church that day “to ask you to pray for the conclave electors – especially for the one who soon must answer Christ’s question within the next few days. Give him the strength and courage to respond like Peter did – ‘Lord you know everything, you know that I love you!’”
Cardinal Gregory served as the archbishop of Washington from May 2019 until Jan. 6, 2025, when Pope Francis named Cardinal Robert W. McElroy of San Diego as the new archbishop of Washington. In November 2020, Cardinal Gregory became the first African American cardinal when Pope Francis elevated him to the College of Cardinals.
Pope Francis died on April 21, 2025 after serving as the pontiff since 2013. His Funeral Mass was held on April 26, and the conclave with 135 cardinal electors will begin following a nine-day mourning period and days of prayer and meetings for the cardinals.
To participate in the conclave, cardinals must be under the age of 80. The 11 cardinals with U.S. ties who will be participating in the Conclave include Cardinal McElroy, 71, who was installed as the archbishop on March 11; Cardinal Gregory, who is 77; Chicago Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, who is 76; Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York who is 75; Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, who is 73; and Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, 75, the retired archbishop of Galveston-Houston.
Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States who is 79, will also be participating in the conclave.
The other four cardinal-electors from the United States include Cardinal Kevin J. Farrell, 77, the camerlengo of the papal household who oversaw the ceremonies surrounding the papal death and serves as the de facto head of state for the Holy See until the election of a new pope. Cardinal Farrell, a native of Ireland, earlier served as a priest and auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Washington and as the bishop of Dallas.
Cardinal Robert F. Prevost, 69, an Augustinian originally from Chicago, was appointed as the prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops by Pope Francis in 2023.
Cardinal James F. Harvey, 75, a native of Milwaukee, served as prefect of the Papal Household from 1998 until 2012, when he was named archpriest of the papal Basilica of St. Paul-Outside-the-Walls in Rome.
Cardinal Raymond L. Burke, 76, served as the archbishop of St. Louis and then as the prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the Holy See’s highest court, from 2008 until 2014.
(This article includes information provided in earlier articles from OSV News and the Catholic News Service in Rome.)
