The Pope is dead: What happens next?
"We ask the Lord and the head of the Church to send us a new successor of Peter who will gather the flock of God like a good shepherd"
(PerMariam) — What happens now that Pope Francis has died? The Church of course commends the soul of the late pope to prayer, as She Herself begins the process of looking for the new successor of St. Peter, but what are those steps?
Following Pope Francis’ death at 7:35 am Monday morning, the ancient custom of a papal funeral and conclave begun once again.
Pope Francis’ remains will be brought into St. Peter’s on Wednesday morning, followed by public access to the Basilica every day until Friday evening, for faithful to pay their respects.
On Saturday at 10 a.m. the funeral will take place in St. Peter’s Square led by Cardinal Re, before the pope’s remains will be taken back inside the Basilica and thence to St. Mary Major’s for burial.
Papal death
Upon the Pope’s death Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals, issued a message to all the cardinals and the diplomatic corps credited to the Holy See about the death of the Roman pontiff. The news was then broken to the media at 9:35 a.m. local time.
Officials will in coming days begin the process of shutting to the outside world those parts of the Vatican necessary for the conclave, such as the Sistine Chapel and the Casa Santa Marta guesthouse which will house the cardinals. However for the time being, the Basilica will be open for pilgrims to come and pay their respects to the late pope.
Last night Papal Camerlengo Cardinal Kevin Farrell authenticated the death of the Pope. The official medical details issued Monday night were that the pope died of a stroke which led to irreversible heart failure.
He took also the pope’s ring and seal which were broken in the presence of the College of Cardinals, in order to avoid their being used to forge documents.
There are only very few leaders of the Roman Curia who keep their leadership positions: the Papal Camerlengo, who is as noted Cdl. Farrell; and the Major Penitentiary, who is Cardinal Angelo De Donatis.
While not strictly positions of the Roman Curia, two other cardinals keep their positions: namely the Cardinal Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome – Cardinal Baldaserra Reina – and the Cardinal Archpriest of the Vatican Basilica, who is Cardinal Mauro Gambetti.
All others lose their positions.
Pray for a good shepherd
Commenting on the death of the pope, Cardinal Gerhard Müller told this correspondent that Catholics must redouble their prayers for a holy successor of St. Peter. He stated:
At this hour, we commend to God's mercy Pope Francis, who has proclaimed it unceasingly to Christians and to all people of good will. And we ask the Lord and the head of the Church to send us a new successor of Peter who will gather the flock of God like a good shepherd, so that all, united with him, may say to Jesus: You are Christ, the Son of the living God.
When asked the same thing, Bishop Athanasius Schneider expressed similar thoughts, pointing back to his prayer for a holy pope which was published last year.
As for Cardinal Raymond Burke – interviewed recently by PerMariam – he followed suit. Though he had no particular comment to make, the American cardinal published a prayer for the upcoming conclave, recommending the Church to God in this pivotal time.
First General Congregations
It is the Dean of the College of Cardinals – in this case, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re – who formally convokes the overall process of a conclave. The process is much more speedy than might be anticipated and the first of many meetings for the cardinals took place at 9 a.m. on Tuesday morning, April 22.
These are the “General Congregations,” which are open to all cardinals regardless of age and are presided over by the Dean of the College, namely Cardinal Re.
Such meetings serve as a key occasion for members of the College of Cardinals to meet each other to discuss the priorities they look for in a papal candidate, and receive guidance from the elderly cardinals not participating in the voting.
There are meetings held prior to the funeral and others held afterwards also, serving to pinpoint the date of the funeral and the start of the conclave itself.
Some of the cardinals are naturally based in Rome, particularly those who are members of the Roman Curia, but for those members of the College who are based across the world they are instructed to return to Rome in order to participate in the conclave proceedings. This has caused some controversy after Cardinal Joseph Zen of Hong Kong questioned the rationale behind Cardinal Re’s invoking the start of such meetings less than 26 hours after the pope’s death.
In a statement issued to this correspondent, Cdl. Zen wrote that:
Cardinal Zen would like to know why the first session of the General Congregations has to start so early. How are the old men from the peripheries supposed to arrive on time. There is the kind word reminding them that they do not have the duty to attend, but they have the right - yes or no?
Cardinals swear to maintain utmost secrecy about the details of the General Congregations and the conclave itself. At the start of the General Congregation, they make this oath:
We, the Cardinals of Holy Roman Church, of the Order of Bishops, of Priests and of Deacons, promise, pledge and swear, as a body and individually, to observe exactly and faithfully all the norms contained in the Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Gregis of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II, and to maintain rigorous secrecy with regard to all matters in any way related to the election of the Roman Pontiff or those which, by their very nature, during the vacancy of the Apostolic See, call for the same secrecy.
And I, N. Cardinal N., so promise, pledge and swear [and, placing his hand on the Gospels, he will add]: So help me God and these Holy Gospels which I now touch with my hand.
Papal funeral
Pope Francis has simplified the rites of a papal funeral, meaning that his funeral on Saturday will be the first to be held under the new rites. Previously the deceased pontiff would lie in state in the Clementine Hall before moving to St. Peter’s Basilica for public viewing, but this first part has been done away with.
He has also lowered the height of the coffin when it is on public display in St. Peter’s Basilica, along with only stipulating there to be only one coffin as opposed to the customary three for a pontiff – of cypress, lead, and oak. “It’s more like the funeral of a diocesan bishop rather than of a Roman emperor,” opined Massimo Faggioli.
Per the new funeral rites, the Pope’s death was certified in his chapel in the Santa Martha rather than in his room.
Pope Francis has already made public his wish to be buried in a side chapel of the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major’s, close to the image of Our Lady Salus Populi Romani which he has made so many visits to in his pontificate.
His remains will be taken there following the April 26 funeral, though full details about how public that ceremony will be have yet to emerge.
Conclave: When? Who can be elected?
In his February 2013 document Normas Nonnullas, Pope Benedict XVI stated that no less than 15 days and no more than 20 days must elapse between the death of the pontiff and the start of the conclave. He noted that, while the cardinal electors could delay the beginning of a conclave by a few days for “serious reasons,” the conclave must begin on the 20th day after the death of the pontiff with all the cardinal electors who were by that time present in Rome.
This means that the earliest a conclave can start now is May 6 and the latest it could be is May 11.
Regarding who can be elected as the new pope, the candidate is most likely to be chosen from among the cardinals present in the conclave. However, it does not have to be so – although the last pope elected who was not part of the College of Cardinals was Pope Urban VI in 1378.
The requirements are:
that the candidate be a baptized, Catholic man having reached the age of reason.
If he is not a bishop, he must be consecrated prior to taking on the office.
However, the chances of the pope being someone other than one of the cardinals taking part in the conclave are immensely slim. Cardinals are also likely to pick a candidate who is mature but not too old, meaning that a candidate in his 50’s or even early 60’s is unlikely. There is a feeling amongst certain parts of the College that a more stable governing style is needed, and also a pontificate that is not too long, rather than a man who is too young and thus could have a long reign.
{In contrast to such political styles, Cardinal Gerhard Müller recently told this correspondent that the Church simply needs “to look to the explanation Jesus Himself gave of the service and the office of St. Peter, in the words he spoke to St. Peter: you are the rock and I give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven and you have to confirm your brothers in the faith and you are the shepherd of the the universal Church.”}
A majority of two-thirds is necessary for a candidate to be elected.
Given that the Cardinal Dean and the Vice-Dean – Cardinals Re and Leonardo Sandri – are too old to participate, the role of coordinating the conclave behind closed doors falls to Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who served as Vatican Secretary of State for Francis.
Who is allowed to elect the new pope?
Pope John Paul II’s document Universi Dominici Gregis, (UDG) stipulates at the beginning of passage 33 that:
The right to elect the Roman Pontiff belongs exclusively to the Cardinals of Holy Roman Church, with the exception of those who have reached their eightieth birthday before the day of the Roman Pontiff’s death or the day when the Apostolic See becomes vacant.
UDG passage 33 also notes that “the maximum number of Cardinal electors must not exceed one hundred and twenty.”
There are currently 135 cardinal electors, with 108 of those having been created by Francis in 10 consistories.
Commenting on this passage from UDG and the likelihood of a conclave taking place while there are more than 120 cardinal voters, canon lawyer Father Gerald Murray explained to this correspondent that since the first line of UDG section 33 preserves the right only to cardinals of electing the pope, in this case “all cardinals under age 80 have the right to enter the conclave and to vote for the next pope.”
“The limit of 120 cardinal voters is effectively rendered null when the pope creates more than that number,” Murray added.
Since ascending the papal throne in March 2013, Francis has held 10 consistories and created a total of 149 cardinals (electors and non-electors), thus effecting a signal change on the College of Cardinals. Benedict XVI created 90 cardinals in his five consistories.
For each of his 10 consistories, Francis has exceeded the limit of 120 voting cardinals – a limit established by Pope John Paul II’s document Universi Dominici Gregis, (UDG) something which Benedict XVI did also on 2 occasions and John Paul II on 4 instances.
However, as recorded by veteran Vaticanist Luis Badilla, the limit of 120 cardinals present at a conclave has not been broken since established by Paul VI.
Pope Benedict XVI stipulated that in addition to the cardinals present at the service of the conclave there are a number of Vatican staff who are on hand to assist proceedings. He included in this number the secretary of the College of Cardinals, the master of papal ceremonies and eight assistant masters of ceremonies, along with two religious who belonged to the operations of the papal sacristy. Benedict further added that a cleric was to be chosen by the Cardinal Dean – or the cardinal taking the place of the Cardinal Dean if he is too old – who would assist the dean in the conclave.
To these are added the staff necessary to provide meals for the cardinals, two doctors in case of emergencies, and priests to hear confessions.
None of these individuals, however, are in the Sistine Chapel during the voting – the chapel is reserved solely for the cardinal electors. The Secretary of the College, along with the Papal masters of ceremonies already mentioned, are allowed in but briefly at each voting round, but only in order to distribute the actual ballot papers to the cardinals. They exit the Chapel before the voting begins.
Strict measures are taken to ensure that the cardinals are not able to access or be accessed by the outside world, as the Church seeks to ensure that the conclave cannot be influenced by outside pressure, lobbying, or perhaps by newspaper reports. Jamming devices are also installed to prevent phone-tapping or other technological interference.
The secrecy and integrity of the conclave is to remain paramount, and Pope Benedict laid out that the cardinal electors are not to be approached by unauthorized persons while they make their way between their lodgings and the Sistine Chapel for the rounds of voting.
UDG states clearly that the cardinal electors:
… from the beginning of the election until its conclusion and the public announcement of its outcome, are not to communicate – whether by writing, by telephone or by any other means of communication – with persons outside the area where the election is taking place, except in cases of proven and urgent necessity, duly acknowledged by the Particular Congregation mentioned in No. 7.
Pope Benedict XVI instituted the penalty of automatic excommunication for anyone who reveals details of the conclave to those who are not part of it, unless he is given specific permission by a pope to do so.
Due to the important work of the Major Penitentiary in providing indulgences or absolution from censures, the cardinal overseeing the Apostolic Penitentiary is one of only three electors permitted to reach the outside world. The two others are the Cardinal Vicar of Rome, and the Cardinal Vicar of the Vatican City State.
Voting begins
The first day of the conclave sees all the cardinal electors in Saint Peter’s Basilica, where they celebrate the special votive Mass for the election of a pope. After this, they present to the Pauline chapel in the Apostolic Palace. Here they listen to an exhortative homily, before processing to the Sistine Chapel, where they shall swear their oaths for the conclave itself.
That afternoon sees the first vote take place, which is widely understood to be an event to take stock of who has early support, but also for some cardinals to pay respect to some honored member of conclave by voting for them even though they are not expected to actually be elected pope.
Each cardinal must walk up to the altar in the Sistine Chapel and place his written ballot paper in a container for it to be counted.
According to Universi Dominici gregis, the men who count and check the ballots are themselves chosen by lot. If they find discrepancies in the number of ballots in a vote, then they burn all of the papers before officially nullifying the vote.
The ballots of every vote are burned and mixed with a special chemical to produce the famous black smoke, so eagerly watched for in St. Peter’s Square. UDG sections 64 through 71 contain precise details about how the votes proceed.
The second day sees the start of voting in earnest. There are two rounds – morning and afternoon – each with two votes, meaning a total of four votes per day according to the laws governing the conclave.
The ballot counters read aloud each name on the ballot papers, and tallies are created to record the votes each cardinal receives.
Upon a candidate receiving two-thirds of the vote, he is asked formally if he accepts the election as Supreme Pontiff.
If the man accepts, he is then asked what name he will take as pope. When he reveals this, the Master of Papal Liturgical Ceremonies swiftly writes a document detailing the new pope’s acceptance and his name.
Providing the candidate is already a bishop – which almost all the members of the College of Cardinals are – the candidate becomes the validly elected pope as soon as he pronounces his formal acceptance of the election.
The ballots are collected, mixed with the chemical for white powder, and burned so that those in St. Peter’s Square see the famous white smoke from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel.
The cardinals greet the new pope in the Chapel and make their individual acts of “homage and obedience,” before all collectively making a prayer of thanksgiving.
The newly elected pope is taken into the sacristy next to the Sistine Chapel, where he changes into one of the white cassocks already prepared for him.
Once he is ready, the formal announcement to the world is made, with the senior cardinal deacon stepping onto the loggia of the Vatican to pronounce the famous words: “Annuncio vobis gaudium magnum: habemus papam.”
Thank you for this excellent reporting Michael.