ST. LOUIS – Scott Bates and his camping friends made an unexpected visit to the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis on Wednesday. The group of Catholics from northern Illinois wanted to see the site where Pope John Paul II visited in 1999.
“It’s amazing,” Bates said. “It’s a wonderful church.”
Little did the campers know that Wednesday would end up including a mass for the opening of the papal conclave.
“This was just a God-driven coincidence,” Bates said. “We’re very happy to be here.”
During Wednesday’s gathering, prayers were said for cardinal electors who will select the next pontiff.
“It’s so important to pray,” Barbara McElroy, a worshiper attending Wednesday’s mass, said. “I think sometimes we forget that God does inspire us.”
Some area Catholics said they hope the next pope will lead in a way that unites, works to end violence and wars, and inspires the church to serve.
Others said their faith leads them to trust in the process now underway to select the next head of the Roman Catholic Church.
“I pray that the cardinal electors listen to the Holy Spirit and choose the man that God wants,” Deacon Hank Schmalen, from St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church in West Dundee, Illinois, said. He was among the campers who visited the Cathedral Basilica.
“We were going to hike today and come here tomorrow, but again, you know, it’s a God thing we’re here today,” he said.