As members of the College of Cardinals met May 5, all 133 cardinals who plan to enter the conclave to elect a new pope had arrived in Rome, the Vatican press office said.

The Archdiocese of Mobile announced April 25 that engineers have deemed the west end of the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception as unsafe due to extensive termite damage.

The conclave is set to begin May 7, but the public only knows its end by iconic white smoke billowing out of the Sistine Chapel’s chimney.

As the College of Cardinals prepares for the conclave to elect a new pope May 7, Catholic Review Editor Christopher Gunty gets some inside information from Monsignor Richard Hilgartner, pastor of St. Joseph parish in Cockeysville, Md., and former executive director of the Secretariat of Divine Worship at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Only through loving others and accepting love in spite of one’s own failures can Christians truly understand and proclaim the joy of Christ’s victory over death, said French Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline of Marseille.