Papal Conclave in Rome -Tuesday March 12,2013

 

How cardinals elect a Pope

• Popes are chosen by the College of Cardinals, the Church's most senior officials, who are appointed by the Pope and usually ordained bishops. They are summoned to a meeting at the Vatican which is followed by the Papal election - or Conclave.

•  During the time between the Pope's resignation and the election of his successor, the college of cardinals will govern the Church, headed by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, as the cardinal camerlengo - or chamberlain

• The cardinals do not have to choose one of their own number - theoretically any baptised male Catholic can be elected pope - but tradition says that they will almost certainly give the job to a cardinal.

  Place of Conclave

The 115 voting eligible church leaders filed into Vatican's Sistine Chapel

 

The election process -

 

• John Paul II changed the rules of the Conclave so a Pope could be elected by simple majority.
• However,Benedict XVI changed the requirements back so that a two-thirds majority is required

Voting Rituals

• Voting is held in the Sistine Chapel, "where everything is conducive to an awareness of the presence of God, in whose sight each person will one day be judged".

• On the day the conclave begins, the cardinals celebrate Mass in the morning before walking in procession to the chapel.

• Once the cardinals are inside the conclave area, they have to swear an oath of secrecy. Then, the Latin command "extra omnes" ("everyone out") instructs all those not involved in the election to leave before the doors are closed.

  No of Cardinals

• There are currently 203 cardinals from 69 countries.

• 67 of the men who will vote for the new pope were appointed by Benedict XVI, and 49 by his predecessor John Paul II

• About half (60) are European, and 21 are Italian. There will also be 19 Latin Americans, 14 North Americans, 11 Africans, 10 Asians and one cardinal from Oceania among the voters.

• The rules of the Conclave were changed in 1975 to exclude all cardinals over the age of 80 from voting

• The maximum number of cardinal electors is 120.  

 

In the Conclave, there will be 115 cardinal-electors: they have to be younger than 80 to be eligible to vote, but Cardinal Julius Riyadi Darmaatmadja, the 78 year-old Archbishop Emeritus of Jakarta, has ruled himself out of travelling to Rome due to the "progressive deterioration" of his vision.
Also Cardinal Keith O'Brien - Britain's most senior Catholic cleric - has also been ruled out of the voting after his resignation over allegations of inappropriate conduct.
The 115 voting eligible church leaders filed intoVatican's Sistine Chapel,hours later after sunset, black smoke billowed from the chimney above the Vatican, indicating that no-one had gained the two-thirds majority needed to become the 266th pope.
People packed St Peter's Square on March 12,2013 Tuesday night awaiting the site of smoke

Only the emergence of white smoke - produced by mixing the smoke from burning ballots with special flares - will signal that a new leader for the world's 1.2 billion Catholics has been chosen.