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Pope Conclave: What to Expect Behind the Closed Doors

Good to have you with us on this Wednesday morning. I’m Joe Frier. And I’m Savannah Cers. Thanks for being here. We’re going to begin this morning at the Vatican where the secret conclave to elect a new pope is set to begin behind the closed doors of the Sistine Chapel in just a few hours. This conclave is expected to have 133 cardinals. They come from all over the world to vote for the next leader of the Catholic Church.

Cardinals Begin Centuries-Old Rituals

The cardinal electors, as they’re known, began the centuries-old rituals of the conclave earlier today with a morning mass at St. Peter’s Basilica. This year’s conclave will be the biggest and most geographically diverse in the Catholic faith’s history. NBC News international correspondent Molly Hunter is live at the Vatican with the very latest.

Molly Hunter LIVE from the Vatican

Savannah, I was here during the week that Pope Francis died and during the funeral. I then went home. But what was happening here in Rome was actually pretty dramatic. Kind of bravo level drama, if you will, during the general congregation. So what happens in those congregations is people can speak freely. They’re meant to stick to five-minute interventions, which are called. But a lot of cardinals we understand because of leaks to the press, mostly the Italian press, spoke over. And that is when kind of the real discussions get made after hours. They go to a glass of wine, they go to dinner, they have these conversations in apartments.

The Real Discussions Unfold

I actually spoke with our NBC News Vatican analyst Chris White about some of the kind of political maneuvering. Take a listen:

"There’s a conversation that’s happening inside the room and there’s a conversation happening outside the room, but they’re not entirely separate. And so the Cardinals want people outside the room to know what’s happening inside so they can influence what’s happening. It’s it’s sort of almost this grand circle, you know, going in in in circles."

Dr. William T. Kavanagh Weighs In

Now, let’s go to Dr. William T. Kavanagh, a professor of Catholic Studies and the director of the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology at Tapal University.

Dr. Kavanagh: "Well, it’s quite an extraordinary combination of qualities that are needed for the job really. You need to be a pastor, so you need to be a good communicator and touch people’s hearts. You need to be a theologian, so you need to keep an eye on the doctrine and keep a firm hand there. And you need to be a kind of CEO, as well. And it’s a large organization of 1.4 billion people. So you need to be a good manager."

The Hunt for the New Pope

I’m sorry to do this to you, Dr. Kavanagh, but we have to ask as we kick off this day: who do you think the top contender might be?

Dr. Kavanagh: "I think it is a big focus and a lot of people have different views about Pope Francis’s legacy. So there’s one side saying we need to continue this. This was just what the church needed, this kind of closeness to the people at the margins, the poor especially. Uh, a kind of pastoral approach before a doctrinal approach that you touch people’s hearts before you try to clarify the doctrine. Uh, a reform of the finances, uh the globalization of the church, uh the inclusion of women and lay cadidality, this process of conversation most basically."

National Weather Service on High Alert

In other news, former top officials are sounding the alarm over growing vacancies at the National Weather Service, and this is right in the middle of tornado season. Recent and proposed cuts mean fewer forecasters are on duty, sparking concerns that communities could be left vulnerable during severe weather.

The Consequence of Staff Cuts

NBC News National Climate reporter Chase Kane has more: "Right at dinnertime on April 17th, we have a tornado warning issued for Padawadami County. Supercell storms started producing tornadoes across eastern Nebraska. Really scared last night. Our Omaha affiliate reporting homes and cars badly damaged, windows blown out, roofs ripped off. One family caught off guard. We didn’t think anything of it, and then my wife started screaming at me, so we tailed it to the basement and it was about 20 seconds after we got down there that it ripped through."

Morning Weather Forecast

And finally, let’s get to your morning news now forecast with Angie Lassman. Angie, good morning. Hi guys. Good morning to you.

Angie: "No surprise we’ve got another day of rain in the forecast. We’ve got a couple of spots that’s going to focus, but you can see it’s really ramped up along the Gulf Coast already this morning. This is going to be one of the trouble spots and essentially extending from Texas all the way to the Florida panhandle up through Atlanta. It’s a soggy morning for New Orleans, Mobile, Montgomery."