I have not yet seen the new thriller film Conclave (the word comes from the Latin cum clave, meaning “with key”) about the election of a pope but it looks like the filmmakers hit the jackpot in terms of timing since the death today of pope Francis means that we will have the process unfolding before us within the next few weeks when the cardinals gather in Rome to elect a new pope and the storm of publicity will make people even more curious about the film
Only 135 of the cardinals are eligible to vote, with the remaining 117 excluded from voting because they are over the age of 80. 108 of the voting cardinals were appointed by Francis so this election will very much bear his imprint. Although he was from Argentina, most of the voting cardinals are still from Europe, though now a quarter of the cardinals are from Asia. They meet in a locked room after excluding all but the voting cardinals and a handful of people such as doctors, confessors, masters of ceremonies, cooks, and cleaning staff, all of whom are also sworn to secrecy.
Harriet Sherwood describes the highly secret process by which popes are elected.
The cardinals swear an oath of absolute secrecy, and are permitted no contact with the outside world for the duration of the election process. Their phones are removed, and no newspapers, television, letters or messages are allowed. The chapel is also swept for listening devices before and during the conclave.
The cardinals sleep and eat in a purpose-built hostel, St Martha’s house, near the Sistine Chapel, where Pope Francis has lived for the past 12 years.
…Any baptised male can be elected as pope, although a serving cardinal is invariably chosen. Each elector is given a ballot card with the words eligo in summum pontificem (I elect as supreme pontiff) printed at the top. They insert the name of their choice, fold the card and drop it into a chalice.
The ballot is secret, but that does not mean the process is immune from factionalising, intrigue and lobbying.
After each round of voting, the ballot cards are burned. Chemicals are added to make the smoke black or white. Black smoke emerging from the 60ft chimney indicates an inconclusive ballot; white smoke announces to the world that a new pope has been elected.
When not meeting formally, the cardinals are “allowed to mix and mingle in nearby buildings and courtyards, and dine together in a cafeteria setting staffed by nuns.” They do not speak to any outsiders during this period.
The results should be known quickly.
A new Pope is elected only when a two-thirds majority of votes is reached – and that can take time.
If it doesn’t happen in the first afternoon, the cardinals will vote up to four times every day. They can take a prayer break after a third day without reaching a decision.
From then on, they can take another break every seven votes. If, after 33 rounds, no decision is still made, a run-off will happen between the two most voted candidates.
It’s not uncommon for conclaves to last a few days – the longest in history lasted two years and nine months, starting in 1268.
But after several rule changes to speed up the process over time, the average length of a conclave since the beginning of the 20th century has been three days. The longest, in 1922, lasted five.
Both Pope Francis and his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, were elected after two days.
Any male baptized Catholic is eligible to be pope. JD Vance, a convert to Catholicism in adulthood, met the pope just two days before he died. He may say that Francis told him in private that he wanted him to be his successor, and may claim that the election was rigged against him if he is not elected.
Just for the fun of it, here is the trailer from the film Conclave.
Trump will be pissed. The Pope died on him just to steal the show.
It’s amazing that they use a voting process. If they believed god cared or had any influence they’d just shoot a crossbow bolt into the air and see who caught it without injury.
Voting is such an obviously political process. I read a biography of Rodrigu Borja (later Alexander VI) and the action around the vote would have made for an entire season of The Sopranos for its sheer holiness.
Since Marcus opened the door for suggestions involving fate/chance. Distribute poison pills, and one placebo. Not only does the lone survivor get to become Pope, he gets to choose all the replacement Cardinals to carry out his vision. (And if you forget to include the placebo, I can live with that too.)
LOL!
Lassi Hippeläinen:
But his gaggle of grifters will probably be happy that all the news organization are looking the other way.
He’s welcome to steal the show back by dying (fingers crossed).
Dang. If I joked like this at Pharyngula I would break the rules (goes away sulking).
If the conclave was like this, I would be going.
Ghost- Con Clavi Con Dio
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=0TJzUI7QDXI
DrVanNostrand @ 3
It helps if you single out the ones that have been especially protective of sexual abusers.
You know, I think there is a South Park episode where the (rather sleazy) priest goes to Rome and finds it is waaay worse than he had expected.
GenghisFaun @ 5
As Trump has to take 3 blood pressure medicines there is a nonzero probability he might follow.
It is fortunate J D Vance and Melania are people with integrity who never have heard the word “placebo”.
(Suddenly: dramatic sound of thunder)
birgrjohansson @8
At this point I always feel like I have to add the caveat that South Park is highly problematic on a number of issues, but that episode was pretty on the mark. It’s simply a fact at this point that every person on the short list for Pope, and the last several Popes (JPII, Benedict, Francis) were all active participants in the criminal pedophile ring known as the Catholic church. While he didn’t play as active a role as others (like Ratzinger who was at the forefront) there has been copious reporting of the abuses that took place and were covered up under Bergoglio (Francis). While many of us are aware of this fact, I often find that even atheists that are unaware of how deep the pedophile conspiracy in the Catholic church went. Three of the four churches I went to in the 80s and 90s had credible accusations against pedophile priests. None were ever prosecuted because they were protected by the church.
#6 birger
Really? I have witnessed that board openly advocate for violence before. Perhaps he has finally taken steps to reduce the sheer venom, but I must have missed it.
birgerjohansson@6,
Eh? I made almost exactly the same joke as Mano on the Infinite thread at Pharyngula:
And it was in response to you, which in turn was a response to my:
Or are you thinking that DrVanNostrand’s #3 would be against Lynna OM’s rules because it jokes about possible future,/I> deaths?
Mano,
You forgot to point out that the new Pope will be chosen by the Holy Spirit ;-p. Why the HS chooses such a clumsy method of making it’s preferences known -- rather than, say, just levitating its choice through the air to the papal throne -- is a deep question in Catholic theology.
I can recommend Conclave. Especially the twist.