Chicago's Archbishop Blase Cardinal Cupich is among the 133 cardinal electors in the Vatican preparing for the conclave to elect a new pope.

Two days after the late Pope Francis' funeral, the Vatican confirmed that a papal conclave will begin on Wednesday, May 7, to choose his successor.   

On Tuesday evening, Cupich posted an image on X with the caption: "As I prepare to enter the Papal Conclave with my brother cardinals to elect the Successor of Saint Peter, I respectfully ask for your prayers. May the Holy Spirit guide each step of our discernment."

The conclave begins more than a week of mourning the late Pope Francis. There are 1.4 billion Catholics around the world who will be affected by the decision the cardinals male.

"We've barely had time to mourn," said Fr. Christopher Robinson, who teaches religious and Catholic studies at DePaul University.

Robinson views the conclave as a sacred process, yet one all 133 cardinal electors take seriously too,

"What are the primary issues those men are bringing to conclave?" he said. "Is it going to be fixing the church, or is it going to be fixing the world?"

A CBS News poll of U.S. Catholics show on the world's political issues, 63% say the next pope should speak out, while 37% believe whoever becomes pope should not get involved politically.

"I think one mistake we can make is if we start to kind of like offload or superimpose American politics onto church politics," said Michael Murphy, director of the Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage and senior theology lecturer at Loyola University.

Murphy pointed out that about 80% of the cardinals voting were picked by Pope Francis.

"There are, I think, cardinals from 21 countries that never voted before," he said.

The first vote will come on day one of the conclave. Murphy said it is anyone's guess at this point — even from on the inside.

"This one is wide open," he said, "and so there's a couple named frontrunners, but I think we're going to get a surprise."

"Some ways we simply don't know, because nothing that has happened in the last three pontificates has been anything anyone expected," added Fr. Robinson.

But Robinson said even after a decision is made, the cardinals are sworn never to talk about it, ever.

"I don't believe you would have unknown source, anonymous, because they don't want to go to hell — you know, that kind of thing," he said with a laugh.

The conclave also must consider the age of the pope. Pope Francis was 76 when he was elected.

Many theology experts say the conclave is less likely to pick someone younger, because they do not want that person in power too long.

What is clear is that there is no outside communication among the College of Cardinals until the white smoke comes out of the stacks.