The conclave begins tomorrow to elect a new pope. In the past 100 years, no conclave has lasted longer than five days:
Pius X: 4 days; 7 Ballots; elected Aug 4 1903
Benedict XV: 3 days 10 Ballots; elected Sep 3 1914
Pius XI: 5 days; 14 Ballots; elected Feb 6 1922
Pius XII: 2 days; 3 Ballots; elected March 2 1939
John XXIII: 4 days; 11 Ballots; elected 28 Oct 1958
Paul VI: 3 days; 6 Ballots; elected 21 June 1963
John Paul I: 2 days; 4 Ballots; elected 26 Aug 1978
John Paul II: 3 days; 8 Ballots; elected 16 Oct 1978
Benedict XVI: 2 days 3 Ballots; elected April 19 2005
Let us pray for election of a new pope. [Remember there is an online Chapel here – where you can also light a candle.]
You can get an email sent to you when the pope is elected. [Yes – that website seems to assume the planet is made up of only two places: Rome and USA. And, although it allows the option of getting the info by email only (the only option it assures is working), it will not function unless you make up put in a cell phone number]
Originally, of course, the Bishop of Rome, as other bishops, was elected by the local clergy followed by the assent of the laity. The shift to the focus on cardinals happened in the eleventh century. The rules have constantly changed, each of the last few popes (including Benedict XVI) has changed the rules of his predecessor.
There are 115 cardinal electors. 77 votes are needed to elect a pope (under the rules that Benedict XVI changed from John Paul II’s). All cardinal electors were made cardinals either by John Paul II or Benedict XVI, and the majority by Benedict XVI. That need not mean the new pope, of necessity, will follow the conservatism of the last two. The Italians have an old saying for change, “after a fat pope a thin pope.” [Just look at John XXIII…]
US Cardinal Timothy Dolan (considered a papal contender) wrote on his blog on Friday:
So, you may be astonished to hear, we [the cardinals] spend most of our times discussing issues such as preaching; teaching the faith; celebrating the seven sacraments; inviting back those believers who have left; serving the sick and poor, the “least of these;” sustaining our splendid schools, hospitals, and agencies of charity; encouraging our brother priests, bishops, deacons, and consecrated women and men religious; supporting our pastors – and getting more of them! – and our parishes; forming future priests well; loving our married couples and our families, and defending the dignity of marriage; protecting life where it is most in danger because of war, poverty, or abortion; and reinforcing the universal call to holiness given all in the Church.
Those are the “big issues.” You may find that hard to believe, since the “word on the street” is that all we talk about is corruption in the Vatican, sexual abuse, money. Do these topics come up? Yes! Do they dominate? No!
There is, of course, a lot of reflection on the papacy currently. Here is a link to Diarmaid MacCulloch, a professor of the history of the church at the University of Oxford. And another by Fr Hans Küng.
Meanwhile, for some, the election of the pope already appears to be old news:
In origin, the Cardinals *are* the Roman local clergy – the Cardinal Priests the incumbents of the city’s churches, the Cardinal Deacons their pastoral assistants (originally, I think, seven, then fourteen, assigned to seven districts rather than to churches), and the Cardinal Bishops those of the surrounding sees, looking to the Pope as their Archbishop. Now, of course, they are titles of dignity for curial officials and senior Archbishops of the world – but each still has the ‘titulus’ of a city church, and I gather that each of them was expected today to celebrate Mass in ‘his’ church.
I guess, Chris, I find the fiction that the cardinals are Rome’s local clergy (and that Rome’s actual local clergy are not the cardinals) about as satisfying as Georg Gänswein being the Archbishop of Urbs Salvia. Blessings.
“That need not mean the new pope, of necessity, will follow the conservatism of the last two.”
True. Still, with the numerous appointments of cardinals and bishops by the two recent conservative popes, if the new pope attempts rapid change away from the traditional stance, he may meet rather fierce resistance.
Here in the US, Cardinal Dolan spends a good bit of his time trying to influence legislators to pass laws which line up with Roman Catholic “values”, but which will affect all the citizens of the country, many of whom do not share RC values.
June Butler
All I can say is the Pope will be really wise. And he should be since he’s the leader of Catholics all over the world. Thanks for sharing the video of Lie Witness News. We should care more about who are next new pope will be.
‘You may find that hard to believe, since the “word on the street” is that all we talk about is corruption in the Vatican, sexual abuse, money. Do these topics come up? Yes! Do they dominate? No!’
Unbelievable.
Cardinal Dolan goes on to say
‘So these days in Rome are hardly about the “board of governors” meeting to discuss changes to Church “policy,” but about how to present timeless beliefs more effectively.’
Can’t say I’m impressed with the concept of ‘timeless beliefs’ if what’s meant is more of the attempted imposition of anachronistic out-of-touch-with-reality rules and demands by sexist men who mostly looked the other way when serious crimes were being committed within their congregations.
He makes them sound like a jolly-old boys’ club, with Jesus as mascot and a few ‘high jinks’ and ‘bally scrapes’ from time to time…
These issues are paramount man, especially in the Christian context, they *should* dominate if you want the rest of the world to see you as sincere!
I have to feel some sympathy for the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. He is due to be enthroned in Canterbury next Thursday, 21 March with all due ceremony. The new pope, Calistus XVIII or whatever, will be elected in the next couple of days, and all those cardinals will want to get him officially installed quickly so they can get home for Holy Week. Thursday 21st is a not unlikely day for the ceremony.
Would you care to guess which enthronement/installation/placing-in-a-chair will get the more media coverage?
Not to mention, Edward, how much media coverage there was for the successor of St Peter, the Patriarch of Antioch’s election… Blessings.
Bosco
At the risk of taking your thread rather a long way from its original subject, I am intrigued to know to which of the five gentlemen with the title “Patriarch of Antioch” you are referring? Mind you, perhaps it is academic. I agree that none of them has received the same media coverage as the Bishop of Rome.
Yes, Edward; if we continued down this pathway we could branch off into the several people claiming to be the rightful Bishop of Rome 🙂 which today, of all days, may be uncouth… Blessings.