The 133 cardinals in charge of choosing the next Pope are now confined in the Sistine Chapel. Cameras are not allowed inside during the conclave, but before the chapel’s closure, we saw the cardinals by providing their confidential oath.
You may have noticed that the cardinals wore red robes and gold rings during their oaths – both items with special meaning.
“So this is the ring they receive when cardinal named,” explained Christopher Lamb, correspondent of CNN in the Vatican. “Therefore, it is a special ring for the cardinal and often symbolizes something related to Scripture or Gospel.”
He noted that the idea of ​​the ring is a symbol of their commitment to their roles as cardinals.
The red robes that cardinals wore is another symbol of their faith.
“And of course, cardinals use red as a sign that they are willing to pour out their blood at the service of faith,” Lamb said. “Everyone is symbols that point to something.”
Cardinals with black garments
An image caught the eye on Wednesday (7) during the cardinal oath for the beginning of the conclave in the Sistine Chapel. Three clerics wore a black cassock, unlike other colleagues, who are mostly wearing the well -known red and white garments.
The color of the clothes he uses is different because he follows the oriental rite church, or oriental Catholic, which maintains his own liturgical rites, traditions and theologies, dating from the time before the division of Christianity (Great Schism, 1054).
They are autonomous, with their own organization and hierarchy, led by a patriarch, a larger or metropolitan archbishop, which rules with a synod of bishops.
Cuculio on the head
Cardinal Mykola Bychok, the younger member of the Cardinian College – the group that votes for the Conclave and chooses the next Pope – also drew attention during the oath ceremony, when we appear wearing a black dress on the head.
The name of the item used by Bychok, which is only 45 years old, is cuculio . Clothing has a tradition of centuries in the Catholic Church, and is usually dressed by monks in oriental Christianity – as is the case of Ukraine, which is east of the Greenwich meridian and has a history closely linked to orthodox Christianity.
This content was originally published in Conclave: Learn the symbolic meaning of the clothes worn by cardinals on the CNN Brazil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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