The archbishop of Kinshasa, Fridolin Cardinal Ambongo Besungu, was in the house for his first conclave on May 7th to 8th, 2025, where they picked Pope Leon XIV, also known as Robert Francis Prevost, to take over from Francois. Live on French TV channel KTO, hanging out with the archbishops of Marseille and Quebec, who were also at the conclave, the Congolese cardinal spilled the tea on this wild experience in a special broadcast on Friday evening. “So, like, before going into the conclave, I totally thought the cardinals would be chit-chatting, exchanging ideas, you know. But nah. What I found out was, it was all serious business,” he explained. “We went in, took the oath. Then, the door shut, but like, in a really serious way. It hit me, like, whoa! things just got real, I’m actually in a conclave,” Ambongo remembered, admitting he felt “super humble” and “tiny” in the face of the event’s gravity. The Lord already had his pope in mind The archbishop of Kinshasa confessed he was kinda confused at the start of the conclave. “I was legit surprised that despite the initial confusion, we quickly all agreed on a dude,” he assured, echoing his Marseille counterpart, Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, by saying, “the Lord had already picked his cardinal, he just wanted us to get on board with his choice.” “I think it happened fast because we all went into the conclave with good intentions. No hidden agendas or scheming like in the movies. The cardinals were not playing games. Right away, we followed the path the Lord showed us,” Fridolin Ambongo emphasized. When it came to the nationality or continent of the lucky conclave winner, the top dog of the Catholic Church in Congo said those questions didn’t matter. He pointed out that according to predictions and forecasts before the conclave, it seemed “impossible” to elect a pope from the USA, where Leon XIV hails from. “Listening to social media and the news, it seemed totally impossible or really hard to have a pope from the USA,” he noted. “I even heard Americans saying the same thing. Some were claiming it was Africa’s or Asia’s time to shine. But from my conclave experience, all these questions were irrelevant,” observed the sole Congolese witness of the last conclave. The only thing that mattered, according to him, was “the character of the people present, regardless of their origin, color, or way of being.” The only question to ask, stressed the former archbishop of Mbandaka-Bikoro, should be “if this is the man needed to lead God’s people on a universal level.” “And that’s exactly what happened,” Fridolin Ambongo concluded. The archbishop of Kinshasa was among the 133 voters in the 76th conclave of the Roman Catholic Church, which elected Pope Leon XIV (American Robert Francis Prevost) on May 8th, after just four rounds of voting, one less than when Pope Francis was elected, who passed away on April 21st.
