Bishop Lawrence E. Brandt of the Catholic Diocese of Greensburg will preside at a special Mass for the Election of a Pope at 12:10 p.m. today at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral, Greensburg.

The Mass will be celebrated on the opening day of the conclave during which the cardinal-electors will select a new pope.

During the Mass, the bishop and his brother priests, who have been asked to concelebrate, will pray to the Holy Spirit to guide the cardinal-electors in their efforts to select a new shepherd for the world's more than 1 billion Catholics.