Some of the cardinal taking part in the Conclave were sending out their last social media posts on Wednesday before they have to surrender their phones during the election of the new pope.
    Fernando Chomalí Garib, the Archbishop of Santiago de Chile, posted a video on X of himself washing a shirt.
    "Today I enter the conclave without a cell phone," Chomalí Garib said.
    "You can vote on who will be the pope before God alone.

A responsibility that overwhelms me".
    Jean Paul Vesco, the Archbishop of Algiers, used Facebook to send a message to his online friends.
    "Tonight I enter the silence of the conclave, I can't wait," Vesco said.
    "This archaic 11th-century institution is demonstrating an incredible modernity in the age of over-media, of social media and of our digital addictions.
    "No more phones or Internet, the windows of our rooms are sealed....
    "We will emerge with the proclamation: 'habemus papam! ' What an adventure indeed!".
    Conservative Cardinal Raymond Burke made an appeal via a video in another Facebook post.
    "Your prayer is urgent for the cardinals who enter the Conclave to choose the successor of Saint Peter," he said.
    Ukrainian Mykola Bychok, the youngest member of the College of Cardinals at 45, said via social media that: "While I'm in the Sistine Chapel I'll pray for a just peace for Ukraine".

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