Poor health prevented Romanian cardinal Lucian Muresan (93 years old) from taking part in Pope Francis’s funerals in Rome and in the General Congregations of the College of Cardinals. In a statement to SIR, the Romanian cardinal confirmed he is “united in prayer with his cardinal brothers gathered at the conclave, invoking the Lord for a new pastor according to God’s heart”. These days, prayers for the conclave are being raised in all of the dioceses and eparchies of the Catholic Church in Romania. Last night, mgr. Aurel Perca, metropolitan archbishop of Bucharest, celebrated Mass “pro eligendo Pontifice” in the Roman Catholic St Joseph Cathedral in Bucharest, just when the cardinal electors were taking their oath in the Sistine Chapel. “We should not be living this ecclesial event as mere onlookers – the archbishop said – Let’s take part in it with our prayers. We are part of the Church”. Then, mgr. Perca explained that the Pope’s election “is not just an institutional fact, a count, it is a call to communion, to feeling God’s will, to discernment to understand who God has already chosen to lead His Church”. Masses “pro eligendo Pontifice” were celebrated in the cathedrals of Iasi and Alba-Iulia too in the last few days, while special prayers are being raised in Romania’s Greek Catholic eparchies as well. Even though Romania is mostly Orthodox, lay media are covering the election of the new Pontiff with great interest.