The unofficial conclave has already begun.
Pope Francis’ funeral in Rome is holding an informal discussion of the future leaders of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, Vatican observers told the Post.
“What’s going on is that they’re having a conversation. Some of these cardinals may have just passed away and met each other, so they really first came to know each other,” said Pastor Patrick Flanagan, chairman of theology department at St. John’s University.
“But they also have these informal sessions talking about how they hope that the next Pope will meet the needs facing the Church.”
Any baptized Catholic can elect his holiness, but for centuries only the Cardinals have been chosen.
Candidates will be reviewed by the official conclave, a protocol dating back to the 13th century.
“People are betting on who he will become, how long Conclave will be, what his name will be,” Flanagan said. “But I don’t know.”
Here’s how the process works:
Sede Vacante: Seats are open
The procedure for electing a new Pope begins with nine days of “Novemdiales” mourning, beginning on April 26th on his funeral day.
The conclave begins 15-20 days After the Pope died or resigned.
The church entered an era known as the “Sede Bacante.” This is a Latin phrase translated into “vacancies.” This continues until the “the moment when the new man says yes,” Flanagan explained.
During this time, Cardinals University will temporarily take over a church led by Camerlengo and Kevin Farrell Cardinal.
“He was chosen in 2019 to oversee the church,” Flanagan explained. “He was actually from Ireland and when he moved to the United States he became Bishop of Dallas.”
During this period, the Vatican’s major decisions will be held back.
Conclave
Only 138 of the 253 Cardinals worldwide can work as Conclave electors, as cardinals over the age of 80 cannot participate in the vote. The elderly Pope is permitted to participate in the preliminary meetings only.
The church prince meets at the famous Sistine Chapel, a sacred Vatican site decorated with paintings by Michelangelo.
The process begins with a mass and votes take place every day, morning and afternoon. Each seven votes will have a break day for prayer.
The Cardinals will hold voting sessions until one candidate has more than two-thirds of the vote. The voting process can hypothetically end in a few hours if it reaches that supermajority after the first vote. Multiple votes can also last for days or weeks.
The shortest history of the Conclave was in 1503, with Pope Julius II being elected in less than 10 hours.
When Pope Francis was elected in 2013, the 2013 Pope Conclave was one of the shortest in history, lasting just over 24 hours.
The longest conclave of The past 200 years have been 1831when it took 51 days to elect Pope Gregory XVI. That was the longest in history 33 months In 1268 he elected Pope Gregory X.
Once the Conclave, held in Italian, begins, the Cardinals are not allowed to leave the Vatican until they choose a new Pope.
The archbishop sleeps on the Vatican grounds at Casa Santa Marta and has no access to telephones, internet or newspapers.
“Everyone is being swears in secret,” Flanagan said. “It not only respects this process, it respects people.”
White smoke or black?
The media sorted some cardinals as frontrunners, but the votes are far from common to fait.
“The Church believes that the Holy Spirit has not chosen, but it encourages these cardinals to choose a man,” Flanagan said.
The Cardinals prayed and voted secretly by placing the voting cards on the big golden holy grail. The card features Latin words “Eligo in Summum pontificem” (meaning “I chose as the best pontificem” – they are decorated.
In the past, voting sessions have been held, allowing large crowds to flock around St. Peter’s Square, allowing you to continue looking at the chimney above the Sistine Chapel.
If the majority does not reach the ballot card, it will be placed in the stove and burned with additives that produce black smoke.
If the majority has not reached within three days, the session will be suspended for one day. This process then continues in the same format until a new Pope is chosen.
There’s a Pope!
Once they reach a two-thirds majority, they ask the man, ‘Do you accept it?’ And he says yes or no.
“And they ask him, ‘What do you want to call you?” ”
The secret vote was burned with additives that produced white smoke, signalling the waiting pope’s chosen flock.
The new clergy sits on the throne within the chapel, as the other cardinals file one by one to swear obedience.
Soon afterwards, the Cardinal Deacon goes out to the main balcony of St. Peter’s Cathedral to reveal the identity of the next leader of the church.
The Pope visits Pauline Chapel and prays for a few minutes before appearing on the balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square.
To announce his arrival, the cardinal says, “Habemus Papam!” – “We have a Pope!”
