The unofficial conclave has already begun.
The cardinals in Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis have had informal discussions about the future leader of the 1,400 million Catholics in the world, said an observer from the Vatican to The Post.
“What is happening now is that they are having conversations: some of these cardinals can only among themselves, so they really know each other first,” said Reverend Patrick Flanagan, president of the Department of Theology of the University of St. John’s.
“But they are also having informal thesis sessions in which they talk about how they expect the next one to meet the needs that will face the Church.”
Any male baptized Catholic can be chosen with their holiness, but for centuries only the cardinals have selected.
The candidates will be tried in the official conclave, a protocol dating from the thirteenth century.
“People bet on who will be, how long the conclave will be, what will be his name,” said Flanagan. “But I have no idea.”
This is how the process will develop:
Vacant headquarters: The seat is vacant
The procedure for choosing a new Pontiff begins with “novels”, nine days of mourning, which begins the day of its funeral on April 26.
Conclave starts 15 to 20 days after a Pope dies or renounces.
The church enters a period known as “vacant headquarters”, a Latin phrase that translates into “vacancy”, which lasts until “the moment when the new boy says yes,” Flanagan explained.
Duration this time, the Colegio de Cardenales will be temporarily responsible for the Church, led by Camerlengo, Cardinal Kevin Farrell.
“He was chosen by the Pope in 2019 as the one that the Church would supervise,” Flanagan explained. “It is real from Ireland, and when he emigrated to the United States, he became a bishop of Dallas.”
The decision -making of the Vatican Major stops in this period.
The conclave
Only 138 of the 253 cardinals of the world can serve as voters in the conclave, since no cardinal over 80 years can participate in the vote. Older potatoes can only participate in preliminary meetings.
The Princes of the Church measure in the famous Sistine Chapel, the site of the sacred Vatican adorned with the paintings of Miguel Ángel.
The process begins with a mass, then the vote is carried out every day, tomorrow and afternoon. After every seven ballots, there is a day of rest for prayer.
Cardinals have voting sessions until a candidate has more than two thirds of the vote. The voting process could end hypothetically in hours, after the first vote, if that super majority is reached. Multiple vote can also continue for days or weeks.
The history of the shortest conclave was in 1503, when Pope Julius II was chosen in just under 10 hours.
The 2013 papal conclave, when Pope Francis was chosen, was one of the shortest in history, which lasted approximately 24 hours.
The longest conclave of the last 200 years was in 1831, when it was 51 days to choose Pope Gregory XVI. The longest in history was 33 months to choose Pope Gregory X in 1268.
Once the conclave begins, hero in the Italian language, the cardinals cannot leave the Vatican until they have chosen a new Pope.
The archbishops sleep in the Santa Marta house on the Vatican land and is not accessed to telephones, internet or newspapers.
“Everyone swears the secret,” said Flanagan. “It is respect for the process, but also respect for man.”
Black or black smoke?
The media have annulled several cardinals as friends, but the vote is far from being an consummated fact.
“The Church believes that the Holy Spirit does not choose, but inspires the thesis cardinals to choose man,” said Flanagan.
The cardinals issued their secret tickets saying a prayer and then placing their voting cards in a large gold chalice. The letters have the Latin words “Eligo in Summum Pontificem”, which means “I choose as a supreme pontiff” – Print on them.
In the past, the big crowds have invaded the Plaza de San Pedro, since the voting sessions are heroes so that they can monitor the chimney at the top of the Sistine Chapel.
If a majority is not reached, the ballots are placed in a stove and burn with an additive that produces black smoke, which tells the world that a Pope has not been chosen.
If the majority is not reached in three days, the sessions are suspended for one day. The process continues in the same format until a new lake is collected.
We have a Pope!
Once a two -thirds majority is reached, “they ask the man”, do they accept? “And he says yes or no. We never listen to any story about the guy who says no,” said Flanagan.
“And then ask him:” How do you want them to call you? “
The secret tickets burn with an additive that produces white smoke, pointing to the waiting crowds that a Pope has chosen.
The new pontiff sits on a throne inside the chapel while the other cardinals show up one to swear obedience.
Shortly after, the Cardinal Senior deacon leaves the main balcony of the Basilica of San Pedro to reveal the identity of the next church leader.
The Pope visits the Pauline chapel to pray for a few minutes before appearing on the balcony overlooking the Plaza de San Pedro.
To announce his arrival, a cardinal says: “Habemus Papam!” – “We have a Pope!”
