this Pope Conference yes Called Wednesday Start the election process Pope Francis' successor. This is an opportunity to experience history for Americans visiting Rome this week.
"This could be...probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to come to Rome," John Swierk told CBS Morning co-host Tony Dokoupil.
Several Americans said they believed that God would guide the meeting.
"I don't want to see much because the Holy Spirit wants to lead the Cardinal or lead the Pope after the decision," Grant Avis said. "Either way, they will become the successors of Christ, and that's not my opinion."
But some, like Kathy Freeman, a Catholic stewardess from New Jersey, who flew to Rome to work, said: “I think it’s more political than divine intervention.”
"It's like American politics," she said. "That's another government."
A new one CBS News Poll It was found that 42% of American Catholics wanted Pope Francis' successor to continue his teachings. Freeman is one of them, but added that she is still unhappy with every aspect of the current church and has raised her children.
“I would love to see more female interventions as a Catholic in every part of the service,” she said.
Dokoupil talks to a group of people from Missouri, who are also in Rome. They said the new pope did not need to be more free or conservative, but rather he needed to unite his faith.
"Moreso needs more than one person or so, we just need a supporter of someone who can fall behind," Alex Harold said.
He also said the Pope “does not need to be age-appropriate”, adding: “That’s why 2,000 years.”
In recent CBS News Polls, most surveyed believe that the next Pope should speak out about the political issues of the world. They will also look for a pope who supports getting the priest married. Let women be appointed as priests; and - the vast majority - be used for the use of birth control.
However, the poll found that the views of the church members of ordinary churches and those who rarely or never participate.
In the United States, over the past few decades, the number of Catholics attending Mass has gradually decreased. Weekly or almost weekly attendance has dropped by 12% since 2000, according to Gallup.
"We are experiencing a crisis in the American Catholic Church, especially in the north of the world. We have young people who are not interested and are leaving," Pastor Thomas Reese is a long chronicle of faith. "It's like one of three Catholics who are no longer baptized in America. It's huge!"
133 cardinal voters in conclusion Meet Wednesday. There is no set deadline, when will the new pope be chosen to lead the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, but recently chose the pope within two to three days of the convening of the conference.
The candidate must get two-thirds of the voter's vote, plus one vote to become the next pope. When this happens, the white smoke will rise from the Sistine Chapel to show that the new pope has been chosen.