Inside the papal conclave: What it’s and what comes subsequent | Explainer News | USAEMALL.com

EXPLAINER

Behind the closed doors of the Sistine Chapel, cardinals from around the world will convene to elect the 267th pontiff.

As the formal mourning period for Pope Francis has ended, attention now shifts to the papal conclave in Vatican City, where powerful members of the Catholic Church are converging to elect the next pontiff.

Cardinals from around the world will choose the 267th pope, leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, at an event of spiritual, political and global relevance. Francis died on April 21 at the age of 88 after 12 years in the papacy.

The conclave, which will kick off on Wednesday, will be held behind the closed doors of the Sistine Chapel. It generally lasts several days and, in some cases, weeks.

Here is what we know:

What is a papal conclave?

• The term conclave comes from the Latin term “con clavis”, meaning “with a key”, a reference to the tradition of locking the cardinals away until a new pope is elected.
• In the Roman Catholic Church, a papal conclave is a solemn, closed-door gathering of the College of Cardinals held to elect a new pope.
• Known as the “princes of the church,” the cardinals follow an intricate and centuries-old process rooted in the Middle Ages.
• While the traditions have evolved, the current procedures are largely based on the 1996 apostolic constitution Universi Dominici Gregis, issued by Pope John Paul II with later amendments made by Pope Benedict XVI.
• Cardinals below the age of 80 vote although all cardinals may attend the meetings irrespective of age. There are currently 135 eligible voters.

What is a pope?

• In the Roman Catholic Church, the pope is regarded as the successor of St Peter, the chief of Jesus’s apostles and the first leader of the early Christian church.
• As such, the pope holds supreme authority over the worldwide Catholic Church in matters of faith, morals, governance and discipline.
• The pope is the spiritual leader of Catholics around the globe, supported today by 252 cardinals.
• “While Pope Francis emphasised that true power comes from Jesus Christ and that he is merely a disciple, the pope is undeniably a powerful global figure,” Father Francis Lucas, a Catholic priest and executive director of the Catholic Media Network, told Al Jazeera.
• The pope typically presides over major church celebrations held at St Peter’s Basilica throughout the year. He is expected to meet with more than 5,000 bishops from around the world at least once every five years. As the bishop of Rome, he is also in charge of governing and managing the Vatican.

When will the conclave start?

• The papal conclave is scheduled to begin on Wednesday in the Sistine Chapel, located in the Apostolic Palace, or Papal Palace, at the Vatican.
• This follows the traditional nine-day mourning period for Francis.

What happens on the first day of the conclave?

10am (08:00 GMT): Mass for the election of a pope

• The day begins with “Pro Eligendo Pontifice”, which means “For the Election of the Roman Pontiff”, a public Mass in St Peter’s Basilica led by the dean of the College of Cardinals.
• It’s a solemn liturgy asking the Holy Spirit to guide the church in selecting a new pope.

4:30pm (14:30 GMT): Procession into the Sistine Chapel

• In the afternoon, the 135 cardinal electors gather in the Pauline Chapel near the Sistine Chapel and chant the Litany of the Saints.
• “This is an ancient prayer of the Catholic Church that names the saints in a sort of a roll call, one by one by one,” said Steven P Millies, professor of public theology at the Catholic Theological Union, a Catholic graduate school of theology in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States.
• “‘St Peter, pray for us. St James, pray for us,’ … seeking the intercession of all the holy men and women who have gone before us to pray for the success of the conclave,” Millies explained.
• They then chant Veni Creator Spiritus and process into the Sistine Chapel.
• “There’s also a prayer to call down the Holy Spirit, … fully God as much as the Father and the Son, but the Spirit that guides the church,” Millies added.

“Extra Omnes”: Locking the conclave

• After taking an oath of secrecy, the phrase “Extra omnes!” (“Everyone out!”) is declared, and the chapel is sealed. Only the electors and essential staff remain, cut off from the outside world.

First vote

• The cardinals may choose to hold a single vote on the first day.

Return to residence

• They return to the Domus Sanctae Marthae (House of St Martha), their secured Vatican residence, where they remain in isolation for the duration of the conclave.
• “This is somewhat different today from what it used to be,” Millies said.
• “In the old days, what they did was they converted the salons of the Apostolic Palace with very uncomfortable cots and pitchers of water. … It was very uncomfortable for a room full of very old men to have to bunk in conditions like that, and so they built this hotel,” he added.

How does the balloting take place?

• Voting after the first day occurs a maximum of four times: twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon.
• Each cardinal receives a ballot marked “Eligo in Summum Pontificem” (“I elect as Supreme Pontiff”) and writes in their chosen candidate.
• One by one, they approach the altar before Michelangelo’s Last Judgement, swear an oath and place their votes in a chalice.

• If a pope is not chosen in the first four days of the conclave, voting is suspended on the fifth day to allow time for prayer, quiet reflection and informal discussions.
• A two-thirds majority is required to elect a pope. If no one reaches that threshold, another vote is held. After each round, ballots are burned.
• If black smoke appears from a chimney on top of the Sistine Chapel, it means no pope has been chosen. White smoke signals the Catholic Church has a new pontiff.
• Black smoke is produced by burning a mixture of potassium perchlorate, anthracene and sulphur while white smoke results from a blend of potassium chlorate, lactose and a conifer resin known as rosin.
• The last two conclaves, held in 2005 and 2013, wrapped up by the end of the second day of voting.

What challenges does the conclave face?

• Francis significantly reshaped the College of Cardinals during his papacy, emphasising global representation and pastoral focus. That comes with its own set of challenges.
• “[The Catholic Church] is a church that has to understand how to be one church globally which is united on fundamental things but has to do things differently in different contexts,” said Massimo Faggioli, a professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Villanova University.
• “That’s the most difficult thing for Catholicism because there’s one canon law for the entire church whether it’s in Alaska or Indonesia, and so that’s something that in the long run is the problem,” he added.

• According to experts, each cardinal brings a distinct vision. Those from the Global South are likely to prioritise globalisation and poverty while cardinals from Asia may seek a pope who understands Islam and supports interfaith dialogue.
• “I think what Francis was doing very much on purpose was inviting those different concerns from different places to come into dialogue with one another,” Mills said.
• “And one thing, I think, that was very much on his mind was the church in parts of the world where Catholicism is a minority – where there are Muslim majorities or other majorities too. The experience of Catholics in those places, I think, was very much on his mind when he made these decisions,” he added.

What are the main challenges the church faces?

• The Catholic Church today faces multiple challenges. Some of them include, in the West, declining attendance, growing secularism and rising numbers of people who say they are religiously unaffiliated.
• Widespread sexual abuse scandals continue to damage trust in the church leadership, according to The Washington Post, which cited the Vatican in reporting: “The Holy See is receiving a steady 800 cases per year from places such as Poland, Italy, Latin America and Asia.”
• Internally, tensions between modernising reforms (on issues like LGBTQ+ rights and women’s roles) and traditionalist values are growing.
• But according to experts perhaps one of the biggest challenges is creating a global church.
• “The Roman Catholic Church of the 21st century is coming to grips with what it means to be a global church,” Mills said.
• “And what it means to be a global church in the end is that the archbishop of New York City is every bit as much a Roman Catholic as the poor baptised worker in East Timor,” he added.

What happens after the pope is elected?

• After a new pope is elected, he first accepts the role and chooses a papal name that reflects his vision or inspiration. The previous pope, whose real name was Jorge Mario Bergoglio, chose Francis as his papal name to honor St Francis of Assisi.
• The new pope then changes into white papal vestments in the “Room of Tears.” According to reports, The Room of Tears is so named because many newly elected popes are overcome with emotion as they put on the white cassock for the first time and fully grasp the weight of their new responsibility.
• Shortly after, the senior cardinal announces “Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum; HabemusPapam!” (“I announce to you a great joy; we have a pope!), from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica, and the new pope steps out to give his first public blessing.
• “The installation of the new pope will complete that cycle of events. And then we will get into the business of seeing what appointments a new pope continues inside the Vatican bureaucracy,” Mills explained.
• “What new appointments the pope makes, who he sacks and who he keeps. That will be very interesting to watch, as will the statements the new pope gives,” he added.