[Music] when a Pope dies or resigns it is necessary to carry out elections to choose the new spiritual leader of the Catholic Church but exactly how a Pope is elected Today I want to talk to you about the conclave and what happens inside the Sistine Chapel during the election of the new Pope. In these hours there is a lot of talk about the conclave and therefore it is good to give a general overview so as to have clear ideas. To do this we have also created some completely new 3D animations Let's begin When the Pope in office dies or resigns it begins the period of the vacant seat during which the power of the Holy See is in the hands of the college of cardinals which, however, can only deal with ordinary administration and in any case this period generally lasts only a short time.
As soon as he received the news of the death or resignation of the Pope, in fact, Cardinal De Cano who is essentially the president of the college summons to Rome all the cardinal electors under the age of 80, i. e. all those who are admitted to vote for the choice of the new Pope.
This is the famous conclave. The conclave was established in the 10th century even though the rules for the election have changed many times over time. The most recent provisions were issued by John Paul II with the Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Gregis of 1996, later revised by Benedict cardinal reader pronounces the phrase extra homelness futuro tutti with which he orders all strangers to leave.
From this point on the cardinals can no longer have contact with the outside for the entire duration of the conclave. Among other things, the name conclave is of Latin origin and derives from the fact that the cardinals are literally locked inside the Sistine Chapel with clubs. Obviously it is not that they remain stuck in the Sistine Chapel for the whole time but they stay at the Domus Sancte Marte passing through via delle Fondamenta always without having contact with anyone To elect the Pope and then I will explain who can be a candidate it is necessary that among all the cardinal electors there is a majority of 2/3 of the votes So let's assume that there are 150 cardinal electors A cardinal to be elected pope must receive at least 100 votes i.
e. 2/3 If instead the number of cardinals is not divisible by three therefore I don't know for example 101 it is necessary to reach 2/3 + 1 Therefore 2/3 of 101 is 67 obviously removing the part with the decimal point + 1 is 68 So with 101 cardinal electors at least 68 votes are needed. Achieving this value, however, is not always so easy and for this reason after the 34th vote if the required majority has not yet been reached, the two most voted from the previous ballot are taken and only the two of them are put on the ballot.
Even in this case, however, it is not enough to have the majority but you must always reach 2/3 plus 1 If we take the example of recent cases, in reality there has not been such a high number of ballots, in fact we have for example Pope Francis who was elected after the fifth ballot while Pope Benedict XV after the fourth. In recent times one of the longest conclaves was that of Pope Pius of any sick cardinals and three others who act as auditors. Each member of the conclave is given rectangular ballot papers with the Latin writing Eligo Insum Ponteficem under which the name of the chosen candidate must be written.
After which the vote is folded in half and, holding it up, it is placed inside a plate. At the end of the voting operations, the three scrutineers proceed to count the ballots and communicate the result. If no candidate reaches a quorum, a new ballot is carried out.
Consider that generally four are done a day 2:00 in the morning and two in the afternoon except on the first day which only one is done. If instead a cardinal reaches the necessary votes the cardinal dean of the college, i. e.
the one at the head of the college, asks him in Latin if he accepts the election and then which pontifical name he chooses. At this point, before going to see what happens when a cardinal obtains the majority, I would like to say a few words to talk about the white smoke and the black smoke. After each ballot, in fact, the outcome of the vote is communicated to the crowd gathered in St.
Peter's Square by means of the famous smoke . black if the quorum has not been reached white if the Pope has been elected The stove used is made of cylindrical cast iron and is approximately 1 m high and has a diameter of approximately 45 cm. In its lower part it has a door to light the primer while in the upper part it has a door to introduce the ballots to be burned.
Historically for the black smoke the ballots were simply burned while for the white smoke, in addition to the ballots, damp straw was also burned. In reality over the years a device has also been introduced auxiliary to smoke bombs so as to make the smoke more visible and above all clear. It is an apparatus inside which there are two compartments, one for placing the light-coloured smoke bombs and one for the dark-coloured ones.
There is then an electrical control unit which manages the release of smoke during the burning of the cards. Obviously then the flues of the stove and those of the smoke machine converge on the roof of the building so that everyone can see the smoke. So once the white smoke comes, what happens?
Let's go back. at the conclave After the acceptance of the role by the most voted cardinal we move on to donning the pontifical robes in the room of tears This is none other than the sacristy of the Sistine Chapel and it is called so because the newly elected should cry for the emotion of having received this position Here there are already robes of different sizes so that they can adapt to whoever is elected And finally we proceed to the public announcement The cardinal protodeacon i. e.
the cardinal deacon appointed the longest appears in the loggia of the St. Peter's Basilica and pronounces the famous formula Abemus Papam At this point the new pontiff generally addresses a blessing and some words to the crowd in St. Peter's Square.
Well this is the election process of the Pope. Having reached this point I would like to clarify only one last aspect, that is, who can become Pope. The requirements established by canon law to be elected and pope are in reality only three.
You must be a celibate and baptized male. Theoretically, anyone who possesses these requirements is eligible and it is not even necessary to be a priest or a cardinal. So I too would virtually be eligible to be Pope just to give an example Obviously then in practice things are a little different The Pope is always chosen from among the cardinals present at the conclave Let's say that it is as if it were a sort of unwritten fourth rule which however also makes sense if we think about it also because to lead the church someone is needed who has a profound knowledge of that world and therefore who better than a cardinal Do you think that the last time a pontiff who did not participate in the conclave was elected dates back to 1522 when Hadrian was elected VI who in any case was already a cardinal.
The last pope who instead did not belong to the clergy but was a layman dates back to 4 December 1963 when Pope Leo VII was elected. However, during the conclave negotiations take place between the cardinals who generally divide into factions based on political ideas, divisions of the Church or geographical origin. So let's say that the cardinals can influence each other during the conclave while influence from the outside is prohibited and this is why they are closed inside the Chapel Sistine Chapel, although in reality there was some contamination in history until the beginning of the twentieth century, in fact the sovereigns of Catholic countries had the right of veto, that is, they could let the college know through a trusted cardinal that they did not like the elections of a particular candidate.
more recent, however, there is a widespread fear that bugs or other technological instruments could be placed in the Sistine Chapel and to avoid this, careful security checks are carried out. Well guys, thanks for following me up to this point. I hope that this video has helped you to have a little clearer ideas on how the election of the new Pope takes place and if you have any other doubts, write them to me in the comments.
