(OSV Information) — Few occasions on the world stage create extra consideration than a papal election. Folks in all places, Catholic and non-Catholic, are riveted by the information as they watch the church transition from one Vicar of Christ to a different. Everybody waits anxiously for the white smoke from the Sistine Chapel that signifies a brand new pope has been chosen and it’s proclaimed,”Habemus papam” (“We’ve a pope”).
Papal historical past is full of fascinating occasions and conditions — for instance, most of the first popes had been martyred; there have been assassination makes an attempt; one pope was kidnapped; 5 popes thought of themselves prisoners within the Vatican; there was a time when there have been three popes; for 70 years the tackle of the bishop of Rome was Avignon, France.
These occasions had been distinctive, however maybe essentially the most distinctive, essentially the most outstanding, was within the thirteenth century when there was a virtually three-year interval when no pope was elected; for greater than 1,000 days, the chair of Peter was empty. The chaos related to this dilemma led to the event of the best way we elect popes at present — that’s, the method referred to as the conclave.
The primary popes, the bishops of Rome, had been elected by the clergy and acclaimed by the individuals. This was the identical course of that was used within the election of all bishops; the clergy acted as electors, different native bishops had been the overseers of the election, and the laity acknowledged the one elected with their approval or disapproval.
By the fourth century, because the church grew, this easy course of turned harder. Most aggravating was the shortage of an organized election process. Additionally, starting on this period, the emperors and the aristocracy of Rome had been inserting themselves into the papal election, usually favoring one candidate over one other and, at occasions, even appointing the pope. Later, within the sixth century, the emperor insisted on confirming every particular person elected because the pope.
Nearly each head of state wished to have management of the papacy as a result of all their topics seemed to the church as the middle of their life. If certainly a monarch was instrumental in getting his selection for pope elected, that king or queen would have great affect over the populace, in addition to over the affairs of the church.
The papacy was wealthy in materials items and possessed monumental quantities of land, each of which had been in demand by the monarchy. Within the eleventh century, Pope Nicholas II (r. 1059-61) issued directions in a papal bull, “In Nomine Domini,” that ended interference by an emperor or the aristocracy in a papal election. Nicholas gave the position of electing the pope to the cardinals. The cardinals had been accountable for electing the pope after which the clergy and laity would approve the choice.
So, the intensive position of the cardinals in at present’s papal elections and within the church could be traced to the eleventh century and Pope Nicholas II. The Second Lateran Council in 1139 eradicated the requirement for all of the clergy and the laity to approve the election.
Three-year conclave
When Pope Clement IV (r. 1265-68) died within the metropolis of Viterbo, north of Rome, on Nov. 29, 1268, the cardinals had been summoned to elect a successor. It took the cardinals till Sept. 1, 1271, to decide on a brand new pope. The scenario that confronted and divided the cardinals was the position of France within the affairs of Italy, within the affairs of the Holy See. The electors weren’t essentially unreasonable or stiff-necked individuals. 4 of the electors would go on to turn out to be popes.
These cardinals knew properly the significance of what they had been tasked to do within the lifetime of the church, however they might not compromise on the difficulty of France having rising affect in papal and Italian insurance policies. Out of the 20 electors, there have been seven French cardinals supporting such affect and 7 non-French cardinals who strongly opposed it. They had been at a stalemate nearly from the start. The slowness of the method had an affect on the whole church and particularly on the residents of Viterbo.
In late 1269, after months of no progress and to pressure a choice, the pissed off locals locked the cardinals in a palace, took the roof off the constructing and stationed troopers exterior. This was the start of what would turn out to be the conclave course of for electing a pope. The Latin phrase conclavis means “locked with a key.” At Viterbo, the residents additionally withdrew meals from the cardinals apart from bread and water. At size, the electors chosen three cardinals from all sides to kind an election committee, and that committee selected Tedaldo Visconti, who took the identify Pope Gregory X.
Visconti was not a priest, definitely not a cardinal, and on the time of his election was in Palestine as a part of the ninth campaign led by King Louis IX of France. On March 19, 1272, Visconti was ordained a priest, then consecrated a bishop and topped as pope on March 27 of that very same yr.
The election of Gregory X (r. 1271-76) was a victory of kinds for the French cardinals as a result of the brand new pope had beforehand served the church in France and, when elected pope, was aiding Louis IX. Lower than a month into his papacy and conscious of the necessity for sure papal reforms, Gregory referred to as for an ecumenical church council to be held in Lyon in 1274. This council would turn out to be referred to as the Second Council of Lyon.
Excessive on Pope Gregory’s record of points was the institution of procedures for conducting a papal election. Accordingly, with the help of the council fathers, he issued a doc titled “Ubi Periculum.” A few of the key options of this structure for use after the demise of a pope included: the election of a brand new pope would start inside 10 days within the metropolis the place the pontiff died; the cardinals would collect within the palace of the pope, be housed in a single widespread room with no partitions, locked in so there have been no communications between the cardinals and the skin world; if there was not an election inside three days, the cardinals would obtain just one dish for every of their meals and after 5 days obtain solely bread and water.
Whereas “Ubi Periculum” set the inspiration for future conclaves, the procedures weren’t all the time used when electing a pope. The ruling pontiff may merely rescind or droop the decree and go in a unique course. Pope John XXI (r. 1276-77) rescinded the decree, and the upshot was that when Pope Nicholas IV died in 1292, it was two years earlier than a brand new pope was elected, partly as a result of there was no clear-cut election course of.
There’s a story that, throughout that election, Charles II of Anjou, king of Sicily and Naples, tried to influence the cardinals to maneuver on with the election. Charles’ efforts failed, and as he was returning dwelling, he requested a monk he knew, Pietro del Morrone, to put in writing a letter to the cardinals telling them that God would chastise them for his or her lack of motion. Upon receiving the letter, the cardinals unanimously elected Morrone as pope. He took the identify Celestine V, reigning from July 1294 to December 1294. This story will not be fully true, however Morrone was a monk and was elected because the pope. Additionally, as Pope Celestine, he reinstated “Ubi periculum” in 1294.
Conclave parameters
Initially, the cardinals had been merely advisers to the pope, however over the centuries they’ve turn out to be heads of the totally different Vatican curia departments and plenty of maintain the place of archbishop in dioceses all over the world. In fact, within the current day, a main accountability of the cardinals is to elect the pope.
“The suitable to elect the Roman pontiff belongs completely to the cardinals of Holy Roman Church, except those that have reached their eightieth birthday earlier than the day of the Roman pontiff’s demise or the day the Apostolic See turns into vacant. The utmost variety of cardinal electors should not exceed 100 and twenty” (Pope St. John Paul II, “Universi Dominici Gregis,” No. 33). This proper of the cardinals to elect a brand new pope can be specified within the Code of Canon Legislation, No. 349.
When a pope dies, or the chair of Peter is vacant, equivalent to the results of resignation, “fifteen full days should elapse earlier than the conclave begins, as a way to await these (cardinals) who’re absent; nonetheless, the Faculty of Cardinals is granted the school to maneuver ahead the beginning of the conclave whether it is clear that each one the cardinal electors are current; they’ll additionally defer, for critical causes, the start of the election for a couple of days extra. However when a most of twenty days have elapsed from the start of the emptiness of the see, all of the cardinal electors current are obligated to proceed to the election” (motu proprio “Normas Nonnullas”).
This motion of Pope Benedict XVI (r. 2005-13) amends earlier directions supplied by Pope St. John Paul II, who didn’t provide the latitude of shifting the conclave begin date ahead.
Instantly upon the demise of a pope, or his resignation, the officers holding key Vatican or curia positions, with solely two exceptions, are obliged to resign. That is carried out as a result of these people have been finishing up the duties as directed by the pope, however since that particular person is now not in workplace, they’ll now not act on his behalf. The brand new pope will determine on leaders of the important thing Vatican places of work. Routine issues relating to the working of the church can be left to the Faculty of Cardinals. Important points and selections can be delayed till a brand new pope is in workplace.
Among the many vital Vatican positions, nonetheless little identified to most Catholics, is the cardinal referred to as the “camerlengo,” or chamberlain, of the church. The camerlengo is among the many two Vatican officers who aren’t obligated to vacate their workplace when a pope dies or resigns (the opposite is the key penitentiary).
One of many camerlengo’s main duties is to formally confirm, within the presence of others, that the pope is useless. At one time, he carried out this verification by tapping the deceased pope’s brow with a small mallet and calling out the pope’s baptismal identify. At the moment the act of figuring out that the pope is useless is finished by a medical particular person and the camerlengo advises the cardinal vicar of Rome, who in flip notifies the individuals of Rome. The camerlengo breaks the fisherman’s ring of the deceased pope, which is a sign of the top of papal authority and ensures that the seal of the ring isn’t someway used for fraudulent actions.
Sooner or later, the camerlengo seals up and secures the papal residences and the papal palaces in Rome: the Apostolic Vatican Palace and the palaces of the Lateran and Castel Gandolfo. A key accountability of the camerlengo is to work with the Faculty of Cardinals in organizing the papal funeral and aiding within the preparation for and administration of the papal election; he’s additionally charged with “safeguarding and administering the products and temporal rights of the Holy See” (Universi Dominici Gregis, No.17).
The Faculty of Cardinals, headed by the dean, meets each day earlier than the election to debate quite a lot of topics and points relating to the church. These conferences are referred to as both a normal congregation or a specific congregation and are held throughout a emptiness of the Holy See. A normal congregation consists of all of the cardinals who cope with important problems with the church.
Through the first normal congregation, the cardinals “swear an oath to watch the prescriptions contained herein and to keep up secrecy” (No. 12). The actual congregation is made up of the camerlengo and three cardinal assistants. These assistants change each three days. The actual congregation focuses on routine issues relating to the working of the Vatican and routine common church points.
Whereas no campaigning is to be carried out in these congregations, that’s not to say that in non-public conferences the cardinals don’t focus on the election. All cardinals attend the each day conferences, however solely those that haven’t reached the age of 80 on the time of the pope’s demise can vote within the papal election. The congregations stands out as the first time that some cardinals have met each other.
The conclave begins
The conclave begins with the cardinals attending the Mass For the Election of the Roman Pontiff. Sooner or later following Mass, the cardinals course of as a bunch to the Sistine Chapel singing the “Veni Sancte Spiritus.” Right here, the place the election will happen, the cardinals take an oath to maintain secret every thing that takes place within the conclave.
They are saying, partially: “In a specific method, we promise and swear to watch with the best constancy and with all individuals, clerical or lay, secrecy relating to every thing that in any method pertains to the election of the Roman pontiff and relating to what happens within the place of the election, instantly or not directly associated to the outcomes of the voting; we promise and swear to not break this secret in any method, both throughout or after the election of the brand new pontiff, except specific authorization is granted by the identical pontiff; and by no means to lend help or favor to any interference, opposition or every other type of intervention, whereby secular authorities of no matter order and diploma or any group of individuals or people may want to intervene within the election of the Roman pontiff” (No. 53). They then say, “I accomplish that promise, pledge and swear.” Every cardinal locations his hand on the Gospels, and says, “So assist me God and these holy Gospels which I contact with my hand.”
As soon as the conclave begins, the cardinals aren’t allowed to go away apart from sickness or different grave causes.
The cardinal electors may have no communication with the skin world in the course of the conclave: no radio, tv, newspapers, computer systems or cell telephones. The amenities utilized by the cardinals can be swept for listening gadgets and digital jammers to disclaim any communications from being broadcast to or from the locations the cardinals occupy. The target is to make sure the electors are protected against any exterior affect.
The individuals who will help the cardinals within the conclave — cooks, domestics, confessor clergymen, two docs, anybody — additionally take an oath of secrecy. This group consists of “the Secretary of the Faculty of Cardinals … the Grasp of Papal Liturgical Celebrations with two Masters of Ceremonies and two Non secular connected to the Papal Vestry; and an ecclesiastic chosen by the Cardinal Dean” (No. 46). The secrecy of the voting course of within the Sistine Chapel is the camerlengo’s accountability.
The time of sequestering the cardinals in a single room with no privateness is a factor of the previous. At the moment, the cardinals stay in a contemporary lodging facility with snug rooms. There is no such thing as a discomfort in the identical sense as that of conclaves of the previous equivalent to, when everybody was in a single room with, at finest, a curtain dividing contributors. Now they lodge in a Vatican residence, Domus Sanctae Marthae, which was inbuilt 1996 to supply lodging in the course of the conclave and to deal with guests to the Holy See. Every room or suite has been described as merely furnished with a mattress, desk and chair. Distancing the cardinals from any exterior affect throughout their each day journey from their place of lodging to the Sistine Chapel the place they vote is fastidiously noticed.
The principles for the conclave, together with procedures for voting, are prescribed in Pope St. John Paul II’s 1996 apostolic structure “Universi Dominici Gregis”, already referenced a number of occasions. Voting is by poll, referred to as scrutiny, and a two-thirds majority is required for an election. “Ought to it’s unattainable to divide the variety of cardinals current into three equal components, for validity of the election of the Supreme Pontiff, then one extra vote is required” (No. 62).
Voting takes place twice within the morning and twice within the afternoon. The scale and type of the poll used is fastidiously outlined, in addition to how the poll can be crammed out. Every cardinal elector secretly writes the identify of the particular person he chooses on the poll. When voting takes place, nobody else is within the room besides the cardinals.
The ballots forged are gathered, counted and verified in a really prescribed method. Every day, in the course of the two votes within the morning and afternoon, 9 cardinals are chosen to rely and confirm the vote. The ballots are counted after every vote — if nobody receives a two-thirds majority, there isn’t any new pope. Conversely, if anybody will get a two-thirds majority, then a pope has been elected.
The voting outcomes are documented by the cardinal camerlengo or his assistants. Instantly after one vote is forged, and if there isn’t any pope elected, then one other vote is taken and counted. After every of the 2 votes within the morning and afternoon, the ballots are burned in a range put in within the Sistine Chapel. The black or white smoke, indicating whether or not or not a brand new pope has been elected, is attributable to chemical substances added to the hearth.
If three days of voting cross and not using a new pope being chosen, voting is suspended for sooner or later. The vote is then resumed as earlier than with not more than seven ballots forged. If there may be nonetheless no election, there may be one other pause adopted by seven extra ballots. Once more, if there isn’t any one elected, one other pause is taken after which seven extra ballots. Every pause consists of prayer and discussions.
Ought to, in spite of everything this voting, a brand new pope continues to be not elected, the cardinals will focus on find out how to proceed in order that they’ll accomplish their job. The steerage in “Universi Dominici Gregis” reads, “Nonetheless, there could be no waiving of the requirement {that a} legitimate election takes place solely by an absolute majority of the votes or else by voting on the 2 names which within the poll instantly previous have obtained the best variety of votes, additionally on this second case solely an absolute majority is required” (No. 75).
For the reason that starting of the twentieth century, no conclave has lasted greater than 4 days.
D.D. Emmons writes from Pennsylvania.
