Burke and Schneider launch prayer campaign for conclave
The College of Cardinals decided upon May 7 as the start date for the conclave, as announced Monday
VATICAN CITY (PerMariam) — Two prominent prelates have issued prayer campaigns for Catholics to participate in, as the cardinals gather in Rome to elect the new pope.
During the fifth General Congregation on Monday morning, the College of Cardinals decided to begin the conclave on May 7, which will be a little over two weeks since the death of Pope Francis on April 21.
Shortly prior to this announcement, two leading prelates urged the Church to come together in prayer for the outcome of the conclave as the cardinals seek to discern who the 267th pope is to be at a momentous time for the Church.
It is none other that Raymond Cardinal Burke and Bishop Athanasius Schneider who have both penned prayers for Catholics to pray for the intentions of electing a new pope.
Some hours after the pope’s funeral concluded on Saturday, Cdl. Burke issued a prayer to be said as part of a 9-day novena in the build up to the coming conclave. The American cardinal wrote:
“The intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary under her title Our Lady of Guadalupe is greatly needed so that the Cardinals in Conclave will humbly obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit & thus choose the most worthy man to fulfill the service of the Roman Pontiff, the Vicar of Christ on earth.”
His short prayer is published on the website of his Wisconsin based Shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe, with downloadable versions available.
It comes on the heels of the 9-month novena which the cardinal led from March through December of last year, praying the the Catholic Church and the world, making mention of crises in both.
Very shortly after the pope’s death, Cdl. Burke had issued a brief comment, commending Catholics to pray for the pope’s soul and the for cardinals gathering to elect the new Roman Pontiff.
“May the Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, in obedience to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, be one in heart the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Head and Shepherd of the flock of God the Father in choosing His Vicar on earth,” he wrote at the time.
Bishop Athanasius Schneider from the Archdiocese of Astana in Kazakhstan has also launched a campaign of prayer. His endeavor – first published by Vaticanist Edward Pentin and subsequently sent to PerMariam by His Excellency – calls for a “worldwide crusade of prayers” for the conclave.
The auxiliary bishop has previously published a prayer for a holy pope, and when contacted by this correspondent recently, pointed back to the prayer as a fitting way to commend the needs of the Church to God.
Bp. Schneider calls for a pope who, “burning with the zeal for the glory of Christ and the salvation of souls, will be ready to defend the integrity of the Catholic Faith, of the Catholic Liturgy and of the Church discipline, if necessary, at the cost of the supreme witness of his life out of love for Jesus Christ and the immortal souls.”
In the run up to the conclave start on May 7, the College of Cardinals will continue to meet in General Congregations which will see cardinals gather together and discuss the state of the Church – regardless of whether they are electors or not.
The full text of Bp. Schneider’s new appeal is produced below:
Appeal for a worldwide crusade of prayers for the upcoming conclave
May the Lord in His infinite mercy look upon the prayers, tears and sacrifices of all true Catholics who love our Mother Church, who in these days humbly and confidently implore the infinite Mercy of God to grant us a new Pope, who burning with the zeal for the glory of Christ and the salvation of souls, will “strengthen the brethren in faith” (Luke 22:32), being uncompromisingly faithful to his name and duty as Successor of Peter and Vicar of Christ on earth.
May through a new Pope, burning with the zeal for the glory of Christ and the salvation of souls, the Lord defend the flock of Christ from the intruding wolves of unbelieving and worldly churchmen who unabashedly are burning incense before the idols of the ideologies of the age, spiritually poisoning thereby the life of the Church, which resembles to a storm-lashed ship, in which “the bilgewater of the vices increased, and the rotten planks already sound of shipwreck,” as Pope St. Gregory the Great upon assuming the Papal office described the state of the Roman Church in his time.
May through a new Pope, burning with the zeal for the glory of Christ and the salvation of souls, the Lord come to the assistance of the Apostolic See, which in our day is spiritually laying in chains, resembling to the material chains in which the Apostle Peter were put at the beginning of the life of the Church, freeing the Apostolic See from the chains of the alignment with the materialistic, morally depraved and anti-Christian globalist agenda of this world.
May the Lord grant us a new Pope, who burning with the zeal for the glory of Christ and the salvation of souls, will be ready to defend the integrity of the Catholic Faith, of the Catholic Liturgy and of the Church discipline, if necessary, at the cost of the supreme witness of his life out of love for Jesus Christ and the immortal souls.
May all true sons and daughters of the Church implore the grace of the election of a new Pope, who will be fully Catholic, fully Apostolic and fully Roman. This they can do through prayers, especially with Holy Hours of Eucharistic Adoration, the Holy Rosary, priests and bishops through offering the sacrifice of the Mass in this intention, and also through personal sacrifices, which can consist in patiently bearing one’s life’s crosses, corporal and spiritual pains, corporal mortifications, fasting and especially acts of supernatural love for God and the neighbor.
We believe that the Lord will come to the assistance of His Church, which in our day resembles a ship in the night “in the midst of the sea, laboring in rowing, for the wind is against her.” May the Lord come again “about the fourth watch of the night, walking upon the sea, and saying: Have a good heart, it is I, fear not.” (Mk. 6:47-50)
April 26, Our Lady of the Good Counsel 2025
+ Athanasius Schneider