The death of Pope Francis this month at the age of 88 set off grief and mourning around the world — along with a complex process to find a successor.
How is a new pope chosen?
Francis’ successor will be selected at a conclave that will begin May 7, the Vatican announced on Monday.
Cardinals, known as the “princes of the church,” rank just below the pope in the Roman Catholic Church; together, they are known as the College of Cardinals. When a pope dies, the college chooses a successor.
There are currently 252 cardinals. Only those under age 80 are eligible to vote, and there are 135 of them.
After Francis’ death, the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, who is 91, summoned all cardinals to Rome.
Many of the cardinals who will cast ballots were named by Francis in far-flung countries. As on Monday, 190 cardinals were present in Rome, the Vatican said. The voting cardinals must arrive before May 7 unless they are ill or have other strong reasons not to attend.
The period between the death of a pope and the election of a new one is called the “sede vacante,” which means “the seat is vacant” in Latin. During that time, the College of Cardinals keeps general oversight of the church, but it is barred from making any major decisions.
When the cardinals meet for the conclave, they gather in the Sistine Chapel. All cardinal electors must swear an oath of secrecy and vote by secret ballot. A two-thirds majority is needed to elect a new pope, and campaigning is part of the process, though it should not appear so.
Cardinals are not allowed to leave the conclave except in rare cases. The word conclave — from the Latin for “with key” — refers to the isolation imposed on them, which is meant to keep the electoral process from dragging on.
During the conclave, most of the cardinals live in Casa Santa Marta, which was built on John Paul II’s orders to replace the improvised rooming arrangements in the papal palace where they used to stay.
The cardinals cast repeated votes until there is a two-thirds majority. After every vote, the ballot papers are burned in a stove along with an additive that produces a color, and the smoke is released through a chimney that can be seen from St. Peter’s Square, where crowds typically form to watch and wait. If a vote ends without a two-thirds majority, the smoke is black.
When a decision is reached, the smoke is white.
Inside the Vatican, the dean of the college asks the chosen successor whether he accepts the job. If he says yes, the dean asks for the name he wishes to be called as pope.
In the sacristy of the chapel, the new pontiff is dressed in a white cassock. After greeting the cardinals, he proceeds to a balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, where a senior cardinal proclaims in Latin, “Habemus papam,” or “We have a pope.”
How long will it take to choose a new pope?
The length of papal conclaves has varied widely over the centuries. But if the last 100 or so years are any guide, it should take no more than a week.
The longest conclave in that time took 14 ballots, lasted five days and produced Pope Pius XI in 1922. Francis was elected after two days of voting. His predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, was chosen on a fourth ballot just a day after the conclave started, making it among the shortest of the last century. The shortest conclave, the election of Pope Pius XII in 1939, took only three ballots. But it has not always been so quick: The conclave that ended with the election of Pope Gregory X on Sept. 1, 1271, took two years, nine months and two days.
Who are the top contenders?
Experts say there isn’t a single front-runner, but several names have been cited.
The discussions before the election are likely to touch on whether a successor to Francis should push forward or roll back the changes he made to the church. On Monday, the Vatican said, the discussions included the qualities the new pope should have to deal with challenges the church faces, including evangelization and its relationship with the contemporary world.
Of the 135 cardinals who can vote, Francis named 108 of them. But that doesn’t mean that they are in sync with all of his ideas and priorities.
Because many were appointed in far-flung countries — “the peripheries,” Francis called them — many of the new cardinals don’t know one another well. Some experts believe this creates a dynamic that could benefit well-known candidates.
But there are many contenders, most of whom are aligned with Francis, though some are more progressive or conservative than others.
One big-name candidate is Cardinal Pietro Parolin of Italy, who was Francis’ second-in-command and who may have the support of the Curia, as the Vatican bureaucracy is known. Others are considered more charismatic, like Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle from the Philippines, who is sometimes called the “Asian Francis.” Cardinal Peter Erdo of Hungary, an expert on canon law, is expected to be a front-runner among cardinals who long for a return to the conservatism of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
The next pope technically doesn’t have to be among the cardinals who can vote. But he will almost certainly come from the conclave’s electorate.
Do cardinals campaign for the papacy?
Cardinals on Monday begin a critical week of “general congregations,” which are daily meetings where church leaders give brief statements about the major issues facing the church.
They allow the cardinals, many of whom don’t know one another because they are scattered around the globe, a chance to feel one another out about priorities, agendas and charisma. They are also a forum for potential flameouts: The first rule of papal campaigning is that there is no papal campaigning. Self-aggrandizement and transparent politicking are taboo in the noncampaign campaign to determine the next pope.
Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina drew the attention of fellow cardinals after a roughly four-minute speech he gave at one of the closed-door meetings in the Vatican before the 2013 conclave. In his remarks, he envisioned a church that got out of its insular comfort zones and self-referential habits. He emerged as Pope Francis.
In 2005, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, then the dean of the College of Cardinals, gave a persuasive funeral homily for Pope John Paul II — famously denouncing “a dictatorship of relativism” — and then emerged from the conclave as Benedict XVI.
So cardinals will be listening closely to what is said during the general congregations.
Isabella Kwai contributed reporting.
Elisabetta Povoledo is a Times reporter based in Rome, covering Italy, the Vatican and the culture of the region. She has been a journalist for 35 years.
Jason Horowitz is the Rome bureau chief for The Times, covering Italy, the Vatican, Greece and other parts of Southern Europe.
Emma Bubola is a Times reporter based in Rome.
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