Former South Dakotan Helping to Select the Next Pope

The process of electing a new Pope is now underway, as another Papal Conclave began on Wednesday, (May 7) in Rome.

Cardinals within the Catholic Church are currently locked inside the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, sequestered in silence, cut off from the rest of the world as they go through the election process of finding the successor to Pope Francis.

Believe it or not, this time around, a former South Dakotan will actually have a voice in who ultimately ascends to the papacy.

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Blase Cupich, the former bishop of the Rapid City, South Dakota diocese, is one of the 133 cardinals eligible to vote for the next leader of the Catholic Church.

South Dakota News Watch reports that there are 10 cardinals here in the United States participating in the current papacy election process. That is more than any other nation, with the exception of Italy.

According to South Dakota News Watch, Cupich was a close advisor to the late Pope Francis. He is considered to be a fairly moderate cardinal who tends to lean towards the more conservative Catholic teachings on various social issues like same sex marriage and abortion.

Cupich, who hails from Omaha, Nebraska, was ordained into the priesthood in 1975 and was appointed Bishop of the Rapid City diocese in 1998 by Pope John Paul II. He became a cardinal in 2016.

Now, in 2025, he will have a voice in who will become the next Holy Father.

There is reason to believe the electors will select a new Pope relatively soon.

Let's hope the selection process goes a little faster than it did in the 13th century. It took 1006 days back then to elect the successor to Pope Clement IV. That Conclave was the longest in the history of the Catholic Church.

According to CTV News, the shortest Conclave on record that observed the 10-day wait rule was in 1503, when Pope Julius II was elected. That selection process took just a few hours.

Who knows, with any luck, we might see white smoke emerge from the Sistine Chapel chimney by the weekend.

Source: South Dakota News Watch/CTV News

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