For nearly 500 years, Jesuit schools, social programs, and parishes have uplifted and transformed communities around the world.

American Jesuits International continues this faith-driven mission, serving as a bridge between the United States and Jesuit programs in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

Join us in building a brighter future for communities

on the margins. Donate, advocate, and pray with us at American Jesuits international.org.

Welcome to America Magazine's Conclave Podcast.

I'm Sebastian Goem's an executive editor at America.

We're doing something a little bit different for the conclave.

We have a team here on the ground and we're producing a podcast episode every single day,

covering the news, what's happening around the pre-conclave meetings of the Cardinals. And then we're

also having longer, more in-depth conversations. We're picking a big topic, something that everybody is

curious about. And hopefully we'll inform you a little bit about the conversations happening here

and will also help you process this historic moment in the life of the Catholic Church.

So today we'll be discussing what the Cardinals are discussing, and that is, namely,

what characteristics they are looking for in the next Pope.

If you've read any of the news lately, some Cardinals floated the idea that what the church

really needs now is a unity candidate,

someone who can keep the church together unified after Pope Francis's historic papacy

that opened up so many conversations about contentious topics,

some of which many Catholics presumed were closed.

So, was confusion or a lack of clarity a particular failing of Pope Francis?

What does it mean when Cardinals say, we need a Pope that speaks clearly, or someone who can

unify a divided church? But before we get to the big conversation, we want to look at the

...