Pope Francis passed away at the age of 88 on April 21 after leading the Catholic Church for 12 years. The nine-day mourning period for Pope Francis has ended and Cardinals are traveling to the Vatican to prepare for the next conclave to elect the next Pope. During the conclave, each Cardinal will vote for the next Pope. When someone earns a two-thirds majority vote, they will be appointed as the new Pope. Many people wait outside the Vatican to witness the smoke coming out of the chinemy: when white smoke comes out a new Pope has been elected.

Here at Mercy, religion teachers wanted to incorporate the conclave into different classes, allowing the students to cast their ballots in a vote. The process allows all Mercy students vote have a say in who they believe should be elected as the new Pope.

“Our goal is to have students engage in a process where they are looking at the needs of the global church, and being attentive to its geography and the various issues its faces and imprisoned of practical things,” Religion teacher Mr. Kleug said.  “But also as the former pope, Francis stressed the sense of following Jesus in an authentic way.”

Once the new pope has been elected, a chimney outside of the church will blow smoke-white celebrating the selection of the new pope and black notifying the public that the election is still in process. Similarly, Mercy has stationed a chimney in the reception area to mirror that in Vatican City.