When a Pope Dies
When the pope dies,
the cardinal chamberlain (Camerlengo) of the holy Roman Church (currently
Eduardo Cardinal Martinez Somalo) ascertains the pope’s death,
traditionally by calling the pope three times by his baptismal name
without response. The ritual of striking the head with a silver hammer
(which would later be used to break the Fisherman’s Ring and the papal
seal) may be replaced by covering the face with a cloth. He then
authorizes the secretary-chancellor to issue a death certificate and seals
the pope's private apartments. After notifying the cardinal vicar for the
diocese of Rome, the chamberlain secures the temporal goods and rights of
the Holy See and attends to the details of the pope’s burial.
During the
interregnum (the period of time between popes, that is, while the Holy See
is vacant), the College of Cardinals governs the Church, but only in the
most urgent matters, making only those decisions pertaining to the
ordinary or immediate administration of the Church.
Two groups of
cardinals—particular and general—meet in congregations during this
time. The particular, comprised of three cardinals who change off every
three days, deals with any minor business at hand, while the general,
comprised of the entire College:
·
decides
the details of the novemdiales, the nine days of funeral liturgies
for the deceased pope
·
designates
two clerics, wise and informed about the problems of the Church, to
summarize these for the cardinals in two meditations de eligendo
pontifice (on electing the pontiff), emphasizing "the need for careful
discernment in choosing the new Pope" (UDG, 13)
·
arranges
for the destruction of the pope’s ring and seal
·
fixes the
beginning date of the conclave to elect the new pope.
Except for the
cardinal chamberlain, the cardinal vicar of Rome, the major penitentiary,
the cardinal archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica and the vicar-general for
Vatican City, all heads of the dicasteries of the Roman Curia cease
exercising their office during the interregnum.
How Is a
Pope Elected?
If we were to ask
Romans this question, they would answer, "Never without us!" And
they would be right. Nothing in Rome quite matches papal election fever.
Christians not jammed into St. Peter’s Square are praying at home or in
church, while believers and unbelievers alike are heatedly debating the
matter over a cappuccino (or stronger) in one of the city’s thousand café
s, placing bets and, at all hours of the day, tuned into their radios and
TV’s.
The Church’s process
of choosing a successor to St. Peter has evolved considerably over the
centuries. Designation by the previous pope, diocesan vote of the Church
at Rome, imperial approval, election by cardinal bishops, pressure from
European monarchs or even simple popular acclaim have all, at one time or
another, been used to choose the man who would become the Bishop of Rome
and supreme pastor of the Church.
Currently popes are
elected by the College of Cardinals—which includes the patriarch-cardinals
among the Eastern Rite Catholics—during a conclave held after a pope
either dies or resigns. The word "conclave" derives from the Latin cum
clave, "with a key," to indicate that at the time of the election, the
College of Cardinals is enclosed in a kind of "sacred retreat" from all
concerns other than meeting in prayer and consultation with each other.
Meanwhile the entire Church is encouraged to pray in solidarity with the
electors asking the Holy Spirit to "make them so like-minded in their task
that a speedy, unanimous and fruitful election may take place." In this
way, the election becomes "in a certain sense an act of the whole Church…"(Romano
pontifici eligendo , 85).
Pope Paul VI modified
the rules for conclaves in 1975 in the above cited apostolic constitution
Romano pontifici eligendo. He excluded all cardinals 80 years old
or over from the conclave and provided extensively to ensure its secrecy.
Recent
changes in legislation
Pope John Paul
promulgated new legislation in the apostolic constitution Universi
Dominici Gregis (On the Vacancy of the Holy See and the Election of
the Roman Pontiff). While respecting the conclave procedures established
by his predecessors, he made some significant changes:
·
The
cardinals stay at Domus Sanctae Marthae in Vatican City.
·
Cardinals
excluded from voting because of their age may participate in the
conclave’s preparatory meetings.
·
Regulations and provisions to ensure secrecy are more comprehensive,
taking into account modern advances in technology.
·
The pope
is to be elected by scrutiny, i.e., secret ballot ; all other methods of
election, such as by acclamation and by delegation or compromise, are
abrogated.
·
Any
cardinal’s attempt to influence the election through spurious means, while
not invalidating the outcome, results in that cardinal’s excommunication.
·
If after
twelve days of balloting no one has been elected by a two-thirds majority,
the cardinals may, by absolute majority (half + 1), choose to elect the
pope also by absolute majority or by a run-off between the two names with
the highest number of votes. While this could lead a majority faction to
wait out the twelve days in order to ensure the election of their
"candidate," the likelihood of such a move is, due also to the pressure of
public opinion, almost non-existent.
·
The
maximum number of cardinal electors is not to exceed 120—although at this
point in time, 130 cardinals are eligible to vote, due to their age.
The
conclave begins
No fewer than 15 days
and, only by exception, no more than 20 days after the pope’s death, the
conclave begins, after a Mass is celebrated for the intention of electing
the new pontiff.
When they enter the
conclave the cardinals swear an oath to:
·
follow the
rules established in Universi Dominici Gregis
·
faithfully
carry out the Petrine ministry and defend the rights of the Holy See and
of the entire Church, should one of them be elected maintain the greatest
secrecy about the balloting and everything related to it, so as to
guarantee the conditions necessary for the electors’ freedom in voting.
The penalty for violating the secrecy is left to "the judgment of the
future pope," just as release from the oath of secrecy is his alone (UDG,
55, 60).
Balloting
"Should the election
begin on the afternoon of the first day, only one ballot is to be held;
then, on the following days, if no one was elected on the first ballot,
two ballots shall be held in the morning and two in the afternoon" (UDG,
63). If no one is elected after three days, voting is suspended for a day
of prayer, discussion and an exhortation. This is repeated after seven
more ballots, and again, if necessary, after the next seven, until 30
ballots are completed. Then the election proceeds as already described.
The balloting takes
place in three phases:
|
1. |
The pre-scrutiny,
in which the ballots are distributed and nine cardinals are designated
for various responsibilities pertaining to the voting process. |
|
2. |
The scrutiny
proper, "which comprises:
a) the placing of
the ballots in the appropriate receptacle;
b) the mixing and
counting of the ballots;
c) the opening of
the votes.
"Each Cardinal
elector, in order of precedence, having completed and folded his
ballot, holds it up so that it can be seen and carries it to the
altar, at which the Scrutineers stand and upon which there is placed a
receptacle, covered by a plate, for receiving the ballots. Having
reached the altar, the Cardinal elector says aloud the words of the
following oath: I call as my witness Christ the Lord who will be my
judge, that my vote is given to the one who before God I think should
be elected. He then places the ballot on the plate, with which he
drops it into the receptacle. Having done this, he bows to the altar
and returns to his place" (UDG, 66).
Provision is even
made for cardinal electors who are sick or otherwise impeded to cast
their votes. |
|
3. |
The post-scrutiny
"which comprises:
a) the counting
of the votes;
b) the checking
of the same;
c) the burning of
the ballots" (UDG, 70).
So as to give
them the maximum freedom possible in their decisions, the cardinals
are safeguarded from any contact with the outside world and are not
permitted to use anything to communicate with anyone not in conclave.
This prohibition extends also to signs or gestures as they move
between the Sistine Chapel and their residence. Moreover, to protect
the conclave from pressure by any civil authority even before its
convening, it is forbidden under pain of excommunication for any
cardinal elector to propose "the veto or the so-called
exclusiva, even under the guise of a simple desire," (UDG, 80), as
they were often constrained to do in the past by some European rulers. |
Election
Black smoke after
each inconclusive voting indicates the results to those outside. Once
someone has received the required number of votes, white smoke from the
burning ballots signals that a new pope has been elected. The dean of the
College of Cardinals asks the one chosen, "Do you accept your canonical
election as Supreme Pontiff?" When he answers, "Accepto," that is,
"I accept," he is then asked, "By what name do you wish to be called?"
Upon declaring his choice, he is taken into what has been nicknamed "the
cry room" to don for the first time white cassock and zucchetto, or
skull cap, of a pope.
While not required to
do so, newly elected popes have throughout the centuries changed their
names out of respect for the name of Peter (if they happened to have that
name) or because their given names were considered either pagan and
inappropriate or too foreign sounding to Romans. More significantly,
though, from biblical times a change in name has signaled a profound
change in identity and ministry. In the case of the successor of Peter, a
name change also has distinguished the nature of the Petrine ministry from
every other form of government.
"We have
a pope!"
After the new pope
emerges from the dressing room, the cardinals individually congratulate
him and pledge their obedience. Then the dean of the College of Cardinals
appears on the balcony of the central window of St. Peter’s Basilica and
declares to the world: "I announce to you news of great joy! We have a
pope!" "Habemus papam!" He pronounces the name of the newly elected
pope, who steps up to the balcony to give the world his first apostolic
blessing.
Shortly after the
election, the pope is inaugurated. Since the papacy of John Paul I, both
the coronation with the tiara and the procession on the throne, or
sedia gestatoria, have been replaced with rituals embracing a more
evangelical (Gospel-inspired) simplicity. John XXIII set a precedent by
preaching the homily at his own Mass. The pope always receives the papal
collar, the wool pallium, as a symbol of his pastoral ministry. In the
forefront of all ceremony now is the spirit of one of the titles
traditionally used by popes: "Servant of the servants of God."
Factors
in the Equation
Despite what may seem
to be a process fraught with intrigue, the Spirit of God is certainly in
charge, often working through the conclave’s human components, not always
in spite of them. The deliberations, research, taking of positions and
involvement of the media can be necessary grist for the mill. If politics
is, as Aristotle defined it, "the art of what is possible," and if the
first step in discernment is, as St. Ignatius affirms, knowing what the
options are, then the cardinals and their advisors would be remiss in
their duty to shrink from the process out of distaste or naiveté.
Of course all this
does not preclude human error and sin. Still, Jesus Christ does not seem
too worried about having the Church snatched out of his hand as a result
(cf. Jn. 10:28-29). On April 15, 1997 in an interview on Bavarian
television Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger reflected on the role of the Holy
Spirit in papal elections, given the sometimes questionable choices of
history’s conclaves: "I would not say…that the Holy Spirit picks out the
pope. …the Spirit’s role…[is not such] that he dictates the candidate for
whom one must vote. Probably the only assurance he offers is that the
thing cannot be totally ruined."
Can we hope for more?
The caliber of many of those chosen indicates we can.
Lord God,
we praise you, our eternal shepherd and guide.
In your love for us, give us the joy of having a shepherd after your own
heart.
May he walk in your ways,
lead your people in goodness,
and fill our hearts and minds with the truth of the Gospel.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord.
(Adapted from the Liturgy for the Election of a Pope or Bishop)
