Cardinals begin papal conclave

Cardinals from six continents made their solemn procession to the Sistine Chapel today to convene the new millennium’s first conclave – a secret and sacred gathering to elect a pope who will guid the world’s 1.1 billion Roman Catholics into a new era.

Clad in crimson vestments and caps, the 115 voting “princes” of a church stung by priest sex-abuse scandals and an exodus of the faithful walked slowly from the Apostolic Palace to sequester themselves inside the chapel decorated with frescoes by Michelangelo.