The process of choosing a new pope is both ancient and somewhat byzantine. The first step is to formally verify that the pope is truly dead, the responsibility of the camerlengo, a member of the papal household, a traditional position that dates from the 15th century. To do so, the present camerlengo, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, calls on the deceased pope by his baptismal name to make sure he is dead. Then he destroys the dead pope’s “Ring of the Fisherman” and official seal, so nothing could henceforth be issued under his name.
The General Congregation
Next there is a period of mourning, usually lasting 15 to 20 days while the cardinals gather in Rome for a General Congregation, prior to the Conclave which will elect the dead pope’s successor. Pope Benedict XVI had heavily weighted the College of Cardinals in favor of Italy, Europe, and North America. At the time of his resignation, 60 of the cardinal electors were Europeans, 20 North Americans, for a total of 80, while only 35 came from the rest of the world.
With perhaps a greater sense of the global character of the Church, Pope Francis appointed cardinals from many countries that had never had a cardinal before, particularly from Asia. Today there are some 252 cardinals in the college, many of whom were present for the General Congregation. Of the 135 cardinal electors (two will not be able to participate), 80 percent, 108 appointed by Pope Francis, come from 71 different countries. In some sense, the pope chosen will be either a confirmation or a rejection of Francis’ pontificate.
But papal elections are very difficult to predict. Nor can the influence of the Holy Spirit ever be ruled out. In spite of a preponderance of Westerners, in 2013 we got Pope Francis, a Latin American and a Jesuit, someone “from the end of the earth,” as he said after his election.
When the General Congregation opens, the cardinals will spend some time getting to know each other. While there is no outright campaigning, as John Thavis said in an interview with the National Catholic Reporter, their gathering “allows cardinals to exchange views, identify candidates and, to some degree, lobby for their favorites.” The cardinals also eagerly study media reports on the various papabile according to Cardinal Gregorio Chávez of El Salvador, who said in a recent interview, “We depend on the press to know who the candidates are, because names are not something we really talk about in there — perhaps only in small groups. This is not a parliament.”
The Conclave
The conclave, the oldest procedure for electing an institutional leader, dates from 1059 when the College of Cardinals was given exclusive responsibility for electing the next pope. In the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the number of cardinals was usually quite small, only seven under Popes Alexander IV or John XXI. Distance from Rome and the difficulty of travel was also a factor in limiting the number of electors. Some conclaves took months or even years. When the cardinal electors in 1268 gathered to elect a successor to Clement IV, they took so long that the townspeople removed the roof from the building where they were meeting and put them on a diet of bread and water. That moved the process along. In 1271 Gregory X was elected. He subsequently summoned the Second Council of Lyons which in 1274 determined that the cardinals should be locked together in seclusion (cum clave, “with a key”), thus a “conclave,” until they had chosen a new pope.
Since 1492 conclaves have taken place in the newly finished Sistine Chapel, built within the Apostolic Palace. Pope Paul VI decreed that cardinal electors had to be under 80 years of age. A cardinal needs a two-thirds majority to be elected. The Vatican is careful to prevent any contact with the outside world once the conclave begins, no cellphones or newspapers, even installing jamming equipment in the Sistine Chapel.
To begin the conclave, the cardinal electors enter the Sistine Chapel, singing “Veni Creator Spiritus” (Come Holy Spirit). They then take an oath to keep the balloting secret, though some details always leak out. Each day may see up to four ballots, two in the morning, two in the afternoon. The cardinals also take an oath, morning and afternoon, to observe the rules of the conclave. If no one is elected after three days, the conclave is suspended for a day of prayer and reflection.
The cardinals vote in order of precedence. Each takes his ballot to the altar and before casting it, swears in Latin: “I call as my witness Christ the Lord, who is to judge me, that I choose him whom according to God I judge ought to be elected.” Three cardinals are appointed as “scrutineers.” The third scrutineer removes the ballots from the container and counts them, to make sure they match the number of cardinals present. Each then writes down the names, while the last reads them aloud. After one last check on the number and names, the ballots are burned, with chemicals added to produce the requisite white or black smoke.
With the election concluded, the dean of the college calls the secretary of the College and the master of Papal Liturgies into the hall. The dean then asks the pope elect: ‘Do you accept your canonical election as Supreme Pontiff?” If he accepts, he is immediately recognized as pope. If he is not already a bishop, he receives episcopal ordination. The dean then asks the pope-elect what he will be called. John Paul II was rumored to have wanted to be called Stanislaus, but was persuaded to choose John Paul II to show a continuity with his predecessor.
The new pope is then escorted into the “Room of Tears,” a small red room next to the Sistine Chapel where he dresses himself in one of the three sets of white cassocks, small, medium, and large. The papal vestures also include a gold pectoral cross, a rochet, similar to a surplice, a mozzetta, a shoulder-length cape, as well as a pectoral cross, an embroidered stole in red and gold, and the white zucchetto, the white skullcap to be worn on his head. Pope Francis chose to keep his episcopal cross and did not put on the rochet or mozzetta, to the dismay of the attending cardinals, a sign of the new pope’s simple tastes.
Then there is the solemn presentation of the new Pope or Bishop of Rome, his most appropriate title, to greet the crowd gathered in the square below the Apostolic Palace. The senior cardinal deacon proclaims, again in Latin:
I announce to you a great joy;
we have a Pope: [habemus papam]
The most eminent and most reverend Lord,
the Lord [given name]
Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church [surname]
who has taken the name [papal name].
