There is a famous quote attributed to then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 1997, in comments to a Bavarian television station. The future Pope Benedict XVI said the Holy Spirit acted like a good educator in a conclave, allowing cardinals to freely choose a pope without dictating the precise candidate.

Cardinals meet to elect Pope Francis’ successor—will the Church continue his inclusive legacy or return to a more conservative path?

Cardinals have wrapped up their pre-conclave meetings in the Vatican, trying to identify a possible new pontiff to follow Pope Francis who died on 21 April at the age of 88. The 133 cardinal electors from 70 countries seem fundamentally united in insisting that the question before them isn't so much whether the Catholic Church gets its first Asian or African pontiff or if he is a conservative or progressive.