TAYLORVILLE — Sixth-graders at St. Mary’s School have a new understanding of how the cardinals of the world came to vote for Pope Francis. Thanks to the help of their teacher Cathy Schaeffer and director of religious education Carole Harrison, the youngsters participated in a mock conclave that began on March 11 and ended on March 13.

"The sixth-graders studied potential papal candidates, all of whom are cardinals, prior to the conclave," explains Principal Cathy Robertson. "Each student gave a brief summary of his or her assigned cardinal, stating why each candidate would make a good pope.

"They also discussed issues that might prevent the cardinal from becoming the pope," she says.

Each cardinal's location was pinpointed on Google maps and then the students spent time in the church praying for guidance prior to donning their "cardinal" apparel. "Once the students entered the conclave, all outside contact was cut off," says Robertson.

All of the students voted on an official ballot, then walked their ballot up to a chalice, announcing, "For you, Jesus," before placing the ballot in the vessel. Working in front of a large screen picture of the Sistine Chapel, three students chosen as scrutineers took turns reading and recording the ballots.

Three other students were selected as revisors, who also recorded the votes for verification. "Mrs. Schaeffer acted as an infamari by contacting an absent student to obtain her vote," says Robertson. When a pope was not chosen, the students went outside to witness the burning of the ballots which burned black smoke.

As it turned out, the students finally decided on their new pope just before Pope Francis was introduced to the world on Wednesday afternoon. "Our students gave the (majority) vote for Cardinal Timothy Dolan (of New York)," says school secretary Tracy Carls. "However we did have three students who would not change their vote and they had actually voted for (Cardinal) Jorge (Bergoglio, S.J.).

"All of the students were excited to see the new pope," says Carls. "Oh, but those three students were so excited when he (Pope Francis) was named. It was so fun to see their reaction."