Latest news with #TheCambridgeHistoryofthePapacy
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
The last pope? An ominous ancient prophecy resurfaces after Pope Francis death.
A legend involving an ancient doomsday prophesy could be interpreted to say Pope Francis' death marked the last head of the Catholic Church – but don't get too worried. The legend traces back to a 12th-century Irish saint (St. Malachy) and a long list of foretold popes, beginning in the 1100s and ending after 112 popes. Experts say there there are lots of flaws in the prediction. St. Malachy has received renewed attention because Francis, who died on April 21 at the age of 88, could mark the 112th pope on that list. That means, depending on how the list is interpreted, this could be the first time in nearly 1,000 years there is no new pope foretold by St. Malachy. The prophecy has sparked the imagination of believers, Catholic and otherwise, at several successions of popes. In 2018, it received attention when the History Channel aired a documentary called "The Last Pope?" A 1922 New York Times report claimed the prophecies "truly pictured" the three most recent popes. Experts, however, generally don't put much stock in the legend. The most prominent red flag: Malachy probably didn't even write the list, which entered the historical record hundreds of years after his death. "The prophecies are a forgery," said Fr. James Weiss, an Episcopal priest and professor of church history at Boston College. The text in question is a list of 112 phrases said to be associated with popes, beginning with Celestine II, who was named pope in 1143, Weiss said. The popes are not specifically named. Examples of the phrases include "swift bear" and "rose of Umbria." From Malachy's time through the late 16th century when historians largely believe the list was actually written, the descriptions are quite accurate, Weiss said. After that, however, it's "hit or miss," with some examples appearing to line up to real popes and others that are much more of a stretch. The 112th pope was described as "Peter the Roman." The prophecy goes on in a short paragraph to describe what some interpret to be the end of the world, or "second coming" of Jesus. The paragraph describes the destruction of the "city of seven hills" (presumably Rome) and a "dreadful judge." Weiss said the common doomsday interpretation of the paragraph could be entirely off; it could refer to a non-apocalyptic event and perhaps judgement by a nation's leader. John Hogue, who runs a blog on prophecies and sells "private readings," appeared in the History Channel documentary as a believer in the prediction, calling it highly accurate. In general, historical and religious scholars don't put much stock in it. The time between Malachy's life and the first historical mention of the prophecy is the first red flag in its authenticity, said Joëlle Rollo-Koster, medieval history professor at the University of Rhode Island and lead editor of "The Cambridge History of the Papacy." The real Malachy knew the saint Bernard of Clairvaux, an "intellectual giant of the 12th century" and a credible witness, Rollo-Koster said. Bernard admired Malachy so much that he wrote a biography about him, but never mentioned any prophecy. "As an historian, I am hardcore on the evidence, and that, for me, is the ultimate proof that Malachy ... did not utter prophecies or write prophecies," she said. What do Catholics believe? Pope chosen in conclave will lead one of the largest religions. The so-called prophecy itself is so accurate through the 1580s to 1590s precisely because it wasn't written until then, Weiss argued. Whoever did write it had great historical knowledge of popes and chose Malachy, who was relatively obscure, as a prophet. Weiss said some scholars believe the prophecy was written in support of a cardinal who was campaigning to be the next pope. Granted, some of the predictions since then are strikingly relevant to the popes they align to, Weiss said. For example, the prediction that aligns with Pope John Paul II, two popes ago, is "from the labor of the sun." John Paul II, as it happens, was born during a solar eclipse and was buried during a solar eclipse, Weiss said. Others have very little to do with real popes, but believers have tried to fit them into the prophecy by "strangulating the evidence," Weiss said. For instance, the "swift bear" referring to Pope Clement XIV in the 1700s has no resemblance to the real man, who was a slow, deliberate and indecisive person, Weiss said. Francis was the 266th pope in Vatican history, but only the 101st pope officially recognized by the Church since Malachy's time. So why do people believe he is the 112th and final pope referenced in the prophecy? That's because there were periods in Church history when multiple leaders claimed to be pope at the same time, Weiss said. Believers in Malachy's prophecy include in the count a few of those antipopes – figures not formally recognized by the Vatican. Francis also doesn't really fit the "Peter the Roman" description. Some believe that because St. Francis of Assisi's father was named Pietro, or Peter, the prophecy still fits, Weiss said. Pope Francis took his papal name from Francis of Assisi. There's also a debated punctuation in the text of the prophecy that some argue suggests there could be an undetermined number of additional popes after the 111th and before Peter the Roman, Weiss said. He thinks it's really just a typo. Any way you slice it, it's hard to apply logic to something that is inherently illogical, Rollo-Koster said. "It's difficult because you're just trying to play with numbers and rationalize when it's somebody who is inventing this in the 16th century," she said. A conclave to select a new pope is set to begin May 7, during which cardinals cordoned off within the Sistine Chapel in Rome will cast votes and signal their decisions to the public via colored smoke. They will meet until the next pope has been elected. All signs point to a pope after Francis. Vatican's 'May Madness': Will new pope be progressive or will church turn back the clock? As for the myth, Rollo-Koster said eras in history when people relied on prophecies reveal a lack of control about their lives and deaths. Today, we have more scientific certainties, she said. "The real test of faith is not in conspiracy theories and cloudy predictions, but in our ability to read the Gospels and interpret the signs of the times," Weiss said. "That's the task of every Christian, and what Pope Francis did brilliantly in his writings on peace, poverty and saving the climate." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The last pope? St. Malachy's doomsday prophecy explained.
Sydney Morning Herald
27-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
The Pope has been laid to rest. Here's what happens next
The recent movie Conclave, adapted from the 2016 Robert Harris novel about skulduggery in the Vatican, opens with a particularly dramatic flourish. The pope lies dead in his bed chamber. With visible effort, a red-capped cardinal wrenches an enormous ring from the great man's stubborn finger. Whereupon another cardinal, played by the towering John Lithgow, whacks the ring with a ceremonial hammer, splits it in two and solemnly declares: 'Sede vacante', Latin for 'with the seat being vacant'. It not only makes for captivating viewing, but the ritual is also actually (mostly) true. The so-called Ring of the Fisherman, a signet ring historically used by the pope to seal letters and documents with wax, is symbolically broken upon his death. Once upon a time, it was to physically prevent forgeries; today, the act signifies the end of his authority. 'I don't think the cardinals quite behave as they're depicted [in Conclave ],' says Miles Pattenden, a historian of the Catholic Church, 'but in terms of how it lays out the process, it's pretty good.' In real life, the funeral arrangements and subsequent machinations dictating how the next pope is chosen are also cloaked in mystique, following 'a very well-established protocol which goes back, ultimately, into the Middle Ages', says Pattenden, co-author of The Cambridge History of the Papacy. The selection of a new pope – who is regarded in Catholicism to be a successor to St Peter, one of the 12 apostles, the first bishop of Rome – reverberates not only with the 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide but with anyone influenced by his leadership and worldview. So, what does happen immediately after a pope dies? What is the conclave? And what is the significance of black or white smoke from the roof of the Sistine Chapel? What happens after a pope dies? It used to be thought that once a pope had died, those present double-checked by tapping him on the forehead with a silver hammer. Maybe it happened back in the mists of time; more likely, it's a myth – the Vatican denies it, at least. Instead, the official process begins when the head of the Vatican's health department confirms a pope's death, after which the camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, the senior official who oversees the papal household (currently Irish-born Cardinal Kevin Farrell), assumes the role of the Vatican's de facto administrator. The pope's body is dressed in a white cassock. In a ceremony, the camerlengo calls out the pope's name three times and, when he does not reply, formally states he is dead. The camerlengo then arranges for the destruction of the Ring of the Fisherman, which traditionally carried an image of St Peter fishing from a boat and was used until the mid-19th century to seal official documents. Exactly how it gets destroyed today is caught up in mythology, but the outcome is it's defaced, so it can't be used. 'It used to be done with a chisel and a hammer. In some movies, they show you, they crack it totally; in others, they just put a line through it,' says Darius von Guttner, a historian at Australian Catholic University. 'The moment it is destroyed and cannot be used again, that means the authority of the pope is finished.' The camerlengo then authorises official documents authenticating the pope's death and a statement to the media and seals the pope's residence. The Catholic Church observes nine days of mourning, several days of which have been traditionally set for the pope's embalmed body to lie in state at St Peter's Basilica – the spiritual centre for Roman Catholics – where people flow past to pay respects. Francis has eschewed more elaborate rituals for his own funeral rites: unlike that of previous popes, his body will not be displayed on a raised pedestal. A pope traditionally had three coffins nested in one another, of cypress, lead and oak, but Francis has chosen to have one simple coffin. The Vatican's master of liturgical ceremonies, Monsignor Diego Ravelli, said in 2024 that the new rites were meant 'to emphasise even more that the Roman pontiff's funeral is that of a shepherd and disciple of Christ and not of a powerful man of this world'. A funeral must take place four to six days after the pope's death. This funeral will almost certainly take place at St Peter's Square, the huge plaza in front of St Peter's Basilica, which can fit about 300,000 people. Francis will be buried, according to tradition, with coins minted during his papacy and a canister containing a 'rogito' or deed that lists details of his life and papacy and is read aloud before the coffin is closed. 'The fact of this is that it's the most secretive election process on Earth.' Vatican correspondent Christopher White Popes are usually buried at the Vatican Grottoes, vaults beneath St Peter's; Francis, however, has chosen to be buried in central Rome at St Mary Major, a major basilica. 'It's a church that's very close to him. He used to go there and pray during his visits to Rome before he became Pope,' says Christopher White, a Vatican correspondent for National Catholic Reporter. 'It's quite fitting, in my estimation, that this man who was elected in 2013 as an outsider has chosen to be buried outside the Vatican. He didn't like to be shackled by the Vatican. He often said when he travelled it was when he was at his freest because he viewed the Vatican as a prison. So it makes all the sense in the world that he wants to go to his eternal rest somewhere outside the Vatican walls.' What's the conclave? Upon news of the Pope's death (or his likely imminent demise), cardinals from around the world descend on Rome for the conclave, the meeting that occurs only for the particular purpose of choosing a new pope. After the funeral, the cardinals attend meetings called general congregations where they discuss the state of the Catholic Church and what kind of leader it might need at this point in history, including on issues such as climate change, migration and same-sex marriage. 'There will be those looking for a candidate of continuity, someone that will continue the reforms of Pope Francis, making the Catholic Church more welcoming, less hierarchical, less clericalist, a priority for those on the margins,' White says. 'And then there will be those that want perhaps a candidate who reverts back to some of the priorities of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. That camp would see some of the reforms of the Francis papacy as going too far.' The forging of alliances can be tricky for journalists to report on. 'The fact of this is that it's the most secretive election process on Earth,' says White. 'You know, these meetings take place behind closed doors. So, of course, we rely on leaks and sort of talking to cardinals willing to paint a portrait of the conversations that are taking place, and then when they enter the conclave, really, no one has any clue what happens until a new pope emerges.' After these initial meetings comes the formal conclave, now of movie fame. Church rules state the conclave must begin between 15 and 20 days after the death of the pope. This is when the cardinals assemble in the Sistine Chapel, under Michelangelo's famous fresco, behind locked doors (conclave comes from the Latin for 'room that can be locked up') to contemplate, discuss and then vote for the next pope. All 252 members of the College of Cardinals can attend, but only those aged under 80 on the day that it commences are allowed to vote: today, it's some 138 electors. (In 1975, St Paul VI ruled that there should not be more than 120 cardinal electors at any one time, but John Paul II and Pope Benedict both exceeded this limit, which is now seen as an 'arbitrary ceiling', says White.) Once in the chapel, the cardinal electors don't interact with anybody beyond its doors. The chapel is barred from electronic communication and has even, in the past, been swept for bugs. 'The secrecy is there to protect cardinal electors from the outside world,' says Darius von Guttner. 'When they actually sit down in those chairs in the Sistine Chapel, they're supposed to vote in accordance with what they feel, what they think, and what divine inspiration gives them.' Pattenden elaborates: 'The theology of it is that the Holy Spirit descends on the cardinals, he enters into them, and he inspires their choice. So the man is picked by God and therefore can claim to be God's representative.' 'It's not just the conniving backstabbing that some popular culture makes it out to be. There's often a lot of serious talks and theological issues and debates.' Theologian Joel Hodge Nevertheless, Conclave author Robert Harris told Publishers Weekly in 2016, 'It is between the ballots, in the lunch breaks and in the evenings that the politics happens. The cardinals gather in one another's rooms, in the corridors and in the dining rooms. There are factions. They switch their votes, trying to rally the maximum support behind the candidate who best represents their view. It's nothing new. This has been going on for seven centuries.' Says White: 'I think the film is completely implausible. It's the stuff of fiction, and so viewers shouldn't be expecting any sort of imitation of that. At the same time, I think the film is a love letter to the Vatican's pomp and circumstance ... and so there will be many, many similarities on that.' Joel Hodge, a theologian at the Australian Catholic University, agrees: 'It's not just the conniving backstabbing that some popular culture makes it out to be. There's often a lot of serious talks and theological issues and debates.' Historically, the cardinals used to be physically barred from leaving the chapel until a decision was made; these days, under rules laid out by Saint John Paul II in 1996, the Universi Dominici Gregis, they are allowed to retire to their rooms in the Casa Santa Marta guesthouse, but are still strictly forbidden from revealing what goes on, under pain of excommunication. How does voting work (and what does the smoke mean)? Technically, the Cardinal College can elect to the papacy any baptised, unmarried Catholic man. In practice, a requirement that the pope be at least a bishop (cardinals are leaders often selected from the roughly 5000 bishops around the world) rules out most dreamers. It's extremely likely that the successful candidate will come from within the cardinals in the conclave itself: the last non-cardinal to be elected pope was the Archbishop of Bari, Urban VI, way back in 1378. A chemical brew is added to a little furnace to change the colour of the resulting smoke. There is actually no list of candidates (although some cardinals might make it known they are not interested in the role to excuse themselves from the vote). Electors simply write a name on a piece of paper on which is printed the words 'Eligo in Summum Pontificem', Latin for 'I elect as supreme pontiff', according to Gerard O'Connell in his 2019 book The Election of Pope Francis: An Inside Account of the Conclave that Changed History. The cardinals then deposit the slip into an urn, saying loudly: 'I call as my witness Christ the Lord, who will be my judge, that my vote is given to the one who, before God, I think should be elected.' The victor requires a two-thirds majority – arrived at after multiple rounds of voting. The first day of the conclave has just one voting round; there are up to four rounds on each subsequent day. Votes are overseen by three scrutineers – cardinals ineligible to vote – who call out the name of each person who receives a vote as the tally is counted, record the results and then burn the ballots. A chemical brew is added to a little furnace to change the colour of the resulting smoke: black means a decision has not been made and white means that a new pope will soon be announced. As votes are tallied, frontrunners come into focus. After the first round, electors might end up ditching their initial choice to back one of several new frontrunners. 'That spiritual nature of it also should not be discounted – that, you know, they really search their feelings as to who is the best among them to do it,' says von Guttner. There is no limit on how long the process takes: the longest conclave in history, starting in 1268, lasted 34 months. The 1740 election of Benedict XIV lasted 181 days, during which four electors died. Pope Francis was elected in about 24 hours after five ballots. Once the victor is declared, the new pope-elect is asked whether they accept the role. 'You are the pope from the moment you say, 'Yes, I accept,'' says von Guttner. The pope can take a new name. Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, took his name from the 13th-century saint Francis of Assisi, known for challenging church norms and serving the poor. The new pope then heads to a room to one side of the chapel known as the Sala de Lacrima, or Room of Tears (where Pope Leo XIII is said to have cried upon his election in 1878). There, he changes out of his red cardinal robes into the white papal vestments, three sizes of which are laid out ready to be tailored to fit. Meanwhile, the public waits for the identity of the new pope to be revealed when he is presented on the central balcony at St Peter's Basilica. What factors can sway the vote? In 2013, after the surprise resignation of Benedict XVI, the conclave was clearly of a mind to shake things up a little. While the Italian cardinal Angelo Scola initially emerged as a frontrunner, so did the lesser-known Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Bergoglio. 'Three factors leaned heavily in Bergoglio's favour,' writes Gerard O'Connell. 'First, the great majority of Latin American cardinals were supporting him, with not one of them speaking badly about him; second, he had revealed his ability to communicate and inspire … and third, he had support from Asians and Africans as well as Europeans.' Once elected, Bergoglio, as Pope Francis, signalled he would live a more spartan life than his predecessors, declining to move into the opulent Vatican Palace and instead taking an apartment at the more modest Casa Santa Marta guesthouse. 'He is experimenting with this type of living arrangement, which is simple,' a Vatican spokesperson said at the time. 'No pope has ever really been able to control the election of his successor, partly because once he dies, their obligations to him are over.' Historian Miles Pattenden Pope Francis was prepared to speak out on issues such as immigration and climate change and was viewed by some as sympathetic to groups the church had traditionally excluded, including same-sex couples and divorcees. Whether the next pope will follow a similar path may be influenced by the kind of cardinals that Francis himself installed during his tenure: he selected around 80 per cent of the cardinals eligible to vote. Instead of favouring Vatican insiders, he cast a wide net, empowering leaders from some 70 nations worldwide. Also in the mix was the Australian Bishop Mykola Bychok of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, who became the youngest member of the College of Cardinals in December, at age 44. 'Francis has made some very idiosyncratic choices,' says Pattenden, who notes, however, 'No pope has ever really been able to control the election of his successor, partly because once he dies, their obligations to him are over.' So, who might be in the picture? 'For many centuries,' says Pattenden, who is affiliated with Oxford and Deakin universities, 'there was a preference to choose Italians. Now, there may be a preference to choose someone from the Global South because that's the image that the cardinals want to present to the church.' (The Global South is a term sometimes used to broadly group developing nations.) An African pope is a possibility, he says, suggesting Cardinal Robert Sarah from Guinea in West Africa, whom Francis appointed to a senior position in the Vatican in 2014 (he's now 79). The (much younger, at 67) Archbishop of Manila, Luis Tagle, is also a contender, says Pattenden. Loading Others to watch include Pietro Parolin, the 70-year-old cardinal secretary of state. 'He'll be a significant candidate, I would think, in the next election, says Pattenden. 'Presumably, every cardinal will have different sets of criteria, certain qualities they're looking for,' he says. 'Which ones they think are more or less important will vary from person to person. But they've had 12 years to identify the faults and flaws in Pope Francis, so they'll look for someone who remedies those.' Says Joel Hodge: 'One of the criticisms of Pope Francis has been that he hasn't been doctrinally clear and rigorous enough. He's given some very interesting teachings, like around the environment, but sometimes he's been a little bit unclear.' Vatican correspondent Christopher White expects to see a conservative bloc supporting a figure such as Cardinal Peter Erdo of Hungary and a progressive group aligning behind Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines or a moderate such as Parolin. Then there is always the X factor, says White. 'There are all sorts of unknown figures who can and almost certainly will emerge during a conclave process.'
The Age
21-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
The Pope has died. Here's what happens next
The recent movie Conclave, adapted from the 2016 Robert Harris novel about skulduggery in the Vatican, opens with a particularly dramatic flourish. The pope lies dead in his bed chamber. With visible effort, a red-capped cardinal wrenches an enormous ring from the great man's stubborn finger. Whereupon another cardinal, played by the towering John Lithgow, whacks the ring with a ceremonial hammer, splits it in two and solemnly declares: 'Sede vacante', Latin for 'with the seat being vacant'. It not only makes for captivating viewing, but the ritual is also actually (mostly) true. The so-called Ring of the Fisherman, a signet ring historically used by the pope to seal letters and documents with wax, is symbolically broken upon his death. Once upon a time, it was to physically prevent forgeries; today, the act signifies the end of his authority. 'I don't think the cardinals quite behave as they're depicted [in Conclave ],' says Miles Pattenden, a historian of the Catholic Church, 'but in terms of how it lays out the process, it's pretty good.' In real life, the funeral arrangements and subsequent machinations dictating how the next pope is chosen are also cloaked in mystique, following 'a very well-established protocol which goes back, ultimately, into the Middle Ages', says Pattenden, co-author of The Cambridge History of the Papacy. The selection of a new pope – who is regarded in Catholicism to be a successor to St Peter, one of the 12 apostles, the first bishop of Rome – reverberates not only with the 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide but with anyone influenced by his leadership and worldview. So, what does happen immediately after a pope dies? What is the conclave? And what is the significance of black or white smoke from the roof of the Sistine Chapel? What happens after a pope dies? It used to be thought that once a pope had died, those present double-checked by tapping him on the forehead with a silver hammer. Maybe it happened back in the mists of time; more likely, it's a myth – the Vatican denies it, at least. Instead, the official process begins when the head of the Vatican's health department confirms a pope's death, after which the Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, the senior official who oversees the papal household (currently Irish-born Cardinal Kevin Farrell), assumes the role of the Vatican's de facto administrator. The pope's body is dressed in a white cassock. In a ceremony, the Camerlengo calls out the pope's name three times and, when he does not reply, formally states he is dead. The Camerlengo then arranges for the destruction of the Ring of the Fisherman, which traditionally carried an image of St Peter fishing from a boat and was used until the mid-19th century to seal official documents. Exactly how it gets destroyed today is caught up in mythology, but the outcome is it's defaced, so it can't be used. 'It used to be done with a chisel and a hammer. In some movies, they show you, they crack it totally; in others, they just put a line through it,' says Darius von Guttner, a historian at Australian Catholic University. 'The moment it is destroyed and cannot be used again, that means the authority of the pope is finished.' The Camerlengo then authorises official documents authenticating the pope's death and a statement to the media and seals the pope's residence. The Catholic Church observes nine days of mourning, several days of which have been traditionally set for the pope's embalmed body to lie in state at St Peter's Basilica – the spiritual centre for Roman Catholics – where people flow past to pay respects. Francis has eschewed more elaborate rituals for his own funeral rites: unlike that of previous popes, his body will not be displayed on a raised pedestal. A pope traditionally had three coffins nested in one another, of cypress, lead and oak, but Francis has chosen to have one simple coffin. The Vatican's master of liturgical ceremonies, Monsignor Diego Ravelli, said in 2024 that the new rites were meant 'to emphasise even more that the Roman pontiff's funeral is that of a shepherd and disciple of Christ and not of a powerful man of this world'. A funeral must take place four to six days after the pope's death. This funeral will almost certainly take place at St Peter's Square, the huge plaza in front of St Peter's Basilica, which can fit about 300,000 people. Francis will be buried, according to tradition, with coins minted during his papacy and a canister containing a 'rogito' or deed that lists details of his life and papacy and is read aloud before the coffin is closed. 'The fact of this is that it's the most secretive election process on Earth.' Vatican correspondent Christopher White Popes are usually buried at the Vatican Grottoes, vaults beneath St Peter's; Francis, however, has chosen to be buried in central Rome at St Mary Major, a major basilica. 'It's a church that's very close to him. He used to go there and pray during his visits to Rome before he became Pope,' says Christopher White, a Vatican correspondent for National Catholic Reporter. 'It's quite fitting, in my estimation, that this man who was elected in 2013 as an outsider has chosen to be buried outside the Vatican. He didn't like to be shackled by the Vatican. He often said when he travelled it was when he was at his freest because he viewed the Vatican as a prison. So it makes all the sense in the world that he wants to go to his eternal rest somewhere outside the Vatican walls.' What's the conclave? Upon news of the Pope's death (or his likely imminent demise), cardinals from around the world descend on Rome for the conclave, the meeting that occurs only for the particular purpose of choosing a new pope. After the funeral, the cardinals attend meetings called general congregations where they discuss the state of the Catholic Church and what kind of leader it might need at this point in history, including on issues such as climate change, migration and same-sex marriage. 'There will be those looking for a candidate of continuity, someone that will continue the reforms of Pope Francis, making the Catholic Church more welcoming, less hierarchical, less clericalist, a priority for those on the margins,' White says. 'And then there will be those that want perhaps a candidate who reverts back to some of the priorities of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. That camp would see some of the reforms of the Francis papacy as going too far.' The forging of alliances can be tricky for journalists to report on. 'The fact of this is that it's the most secretive election process on Earth,' says White. 'You know, these meetings take place behind closed doors. So, of course, we rely on leaks and sort of talking to cardinals willing to paint a portrait of the conversations that are taking place, and then when they enter the conclave, really, no one has any clue what happens until a new pope emerges.' After these initial meetings comes the formal conclave, now of movie fame. Church rules state the conclave must begin between 15 and 20 days after the death of the pope. This is when the cardinals assemble in the Sistine Chapel, under Michelangelo's famous fresco, behind locked doors (conclave comes from the Latin for 'room that can be locked up') to contemplate, discuss and then vote for the next pope. All 252 members of the College of Cardinals can attend, but only those aged under 80 on the day that it commences are allowed to vote: today, it's some 138 electors. (In 1975, St Paul VI ruled that there should not be more than 120 cardinal electors at any one time, but John Paul II and Pope Benedict both exceeded this limit, which is now seen as an 'arbitrary ceiling', says White.) Once in the chapel, the cardinal electors don't interact with anybody beyond its doors. The chapel is barred from electronic communication and has even, in the past, been swept for bugs. 'The secrecy is there to protect cardinal electors from the outside world,' says Darius von Guttner. 'When they actually sit down in those chairs in the Sistine Chapel, they're supposed to vote in accordance with what they feel, what they think, and what divine inspiration gives them.' Pattenden elaborates: 'The theology of it is that the Holy Spirit descends on the cardinals, he enters into them, and he inspires their choice. So the man is picked by God and therefore can claim to be God's representative.' 'It's not just the conniving backstabbing that some popular culture makes it out to be. There's often a lot of serious talks and theological issues and debates.' Theologian Joel Hodge Nevertheless, Conclave author Robert Harris told Publishers Weekly in 2016, 'It is between the ballots, in the lunch breaks and in the evenings that the politics happens. The cardinals gather in one another's rooms, in the corridors and in the dining rooms. There are factions. They switch their votes, trying to rally the maximum support behind the candidate who best represents their view. It's nothing new. This has been going on for seven centuries.' Says White: 'I think the film is completely implausible. It's the stuff of fiction, and so viewers shouldn't be expecting any sort of imitation of that. At the same time, I think the film is a love letter to the Vatican's pomp and circumstance ... and so there will be many, many similarities on that.' Joel Hodge, a theologian at the Australian Catholic University, agrees: 'It's not just the conniving backstabbing that some popular culture makes it out to be. There's often a lot of serious talks and theological issues and debates.' Historically, the cardinals used to be physically barred from leaving the chapel until a decision was made; these days, under rules laid out by Saint John Paul II in 1996, the Universi Dominici Gregis, they are allowed to retire to their rooms in the Casa Santa Marta guesthouse, but are still strictly forbidden from revealing what goes on, under pain of excommunication. How does voting work (and what does the smoke mean)? Technically, the Cardinal College can elect to the papacy any baptised, unmarried Catholic man. In practice, a requirement that the pope be at least a bishop (cardinals are leaders often selected from the roughly 5000 bishops around the world) rules out most dreamers. It's extremely likely that the successful candidate will come from within the cardinals in the conclave itself: the last non-cardinal to be elected pope was the Archbishop of Bari, Urban VI, way back in 1378. A chemical brew is added to a little furnace to change the colour of the resulting smoke. There is actually no list of candidates (although some cardinals might make it known they are not interested in the role to excuse themselves from the vote). Electors simply write a name on a piece of paper on which is printed the words 'Eligo in Summum Pontificem', Latin for 'I elect as supreme pontiff', according to Gerard O'Connell in his 2019 book The Election of Pope Francis: An Inside Account of the Conclave That Changed History. The cardinals then deposit the slip into an urn, saying loudly: 'I call as my witness Christ the Lord, who will be my judge, that my vote is given to the one who, before God, I think should be elected.' The victor requires a two-thirds majority – arrived at after multiple rounds of voting. The first day of the conclave has just one voting round; there are up to four rounds on each subsequent day. Votes are overseen by three scrutineers – cardinals ineligible to vote – who call out the name of each person who receives a vote as the tally is counted, record the results and then burn the ballots. A chemical brew is added to a little furnace to change the colour of the resulting smoke: black means a decision has not been made and white means that a new pope will soon be announced. As votes are tallied, frontrunners come into focus. After the first round, electors might end up ditching their initial choice to back one of several new frontrunners. 'That spiritual nature of it also should not be discounted – that, you know, they really search their feelings as to who is the best among them to do it,' says von Guttner. There is no limit on how long the process takes: the longest conclave in history, starting in 1268, lasted 34 months. The 1740 election of Benedict XIV lasted 181 days, during which four electors died. Pope Francis was elected in about 24 hours after five ballots. Once the victor is declared, the new pope-elect is asked whether they accept the role. 'You are the pope from the moment you say, 'Yes, I accept,'' says von Guttner. The pope can take a new name. Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, took his name from the 13th-century saint Francis of Assisi, known for challenging church norms and serving the poor. The new pope then heads to a room to one side of the chapel known as the Sala de Lacrima, or Room of Tears (where Pope Leo XIII is said to have cried upon his election in 1878). There, he changes out of his red cardinal robes into the white papal vestments, three sizes of which are laid out ready to be tailored to fit. Meanwhile, the public waits for the identity of the new pope to be revealed when he is presented on the central balcony at St Peter's Basilica. What factors can sway the vote? In 2013, after the surprise resignation of Benedict XVI, the conclave was clearly of a mind to shake things up a little. While the Italian cardinal Angelo Scola initially emerged as a frontrunner, so did the lesser-known Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Bergoglio. 'Three factors leaned heavily in Bergoglio's favour,' writes Gerard O'Connell. 'First, the great majority of Latin American cardinals were supporting him, with not one of them speaking badly about him; second, he had revealed his ability to communicate and inspire … and third, he had support from Asians and Africans as well as Europeans.' Once elected, Bergoglio, as Pope Francis, signalled he would live a more spartan life than his predecessors, declining to move into the opulent Vatican Palace and instead taking an apartment at the more modest Casa Santa Marta guesthouse. 'He is experimenting with this type of living arrangement, which is simple,' a Vatican spokesperson said at the time. 'No pope has ever really been able to control the election of his successor, partly because once he dies, their obligations to him are over.' Historian Miles Pattenden Pope Francis was prepared to speak out on issues such as immigration and climate change and was viewed by some as sympathetic to groups the church had traditionally excluded, including same-sex couples and divorcees. Whether the next pope will follow a similar path may be influenced by the kind of cardinals that Francis himself installed during his tenure: he selected around 80 per cent of the cardinals eligible to vote. Instead of favouring Vatican insiders, he cast a wide net, empowering leaders from some 70 nations worldwide. Also in the mix was the Australian Bishop Mykola Bychok of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, who became the youngest member of the College of Cardinals in December, at age 44. 'Francis has made some very idiosyncratic choices,' says Pattenden, who notes, however, 'No pope has ever really been able to control the election of his successor, partly because once he dies, their obligations to him are over.' So, who might be in the picture? 'For many centuries,' says Pattenden, who is affiliated with Oxford and Deakin universities, 'there was a preference to choose Italians. Now, there may be a preference to choose someone from the Global South because that's the image that the cardinals want to present to the church.' (The Global South is a term sometimes used to broadly group developing nations.) An African pope is a possibility, he says, suggesting Cardinal Robert Sarah from Guinea in West Africa, whom Francis appointed to a senior position in the Vatican in 2014 (he's now 79). The (much younger, at 67) Archbishop of Manila, Luis Tagle, is also a contender, says Pattenden. Loading Others to watch include Pietro Parolin, the 70-year-old cardinal secretary of state. 'He'll be a significant candidate, I would think, in the next election, says Pattenden. 'Presumably, every cardinal will have different sets of criteria, certain qualities they're looking for,' he says. 'Which ones they think are more or less important will vary from person to person. But they've had 12 years to identify the faults and flaws in Pope Francis, so they'll look for someone who remedies those.' Says Joel Hodge: 'One of the criticisms of Pope Francis has been that he hasn't been doctrinally clear and rigorous enough. He's given some very interesting teachings, like around the environment, but sometimes he's been a little bit unclear.' Vatican correspondent Christopher White expects to see a conservative bloc supporting a figure such as Cardinal Peter Erdo of Hungary and a progressive group aligning behind Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines or a moderate such as Parolin. Then there is always the X factor, says White. 'There are all sorts of unknown figures who can and almost certainly will emerge during a conclave process.'
Sydney Morning Herald
21-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
The Pope has died. Here's what happens next
The recent movie Conclave, adapted from the 2016 Robert Harris novel about skulduggery in the Vatican, opens with a particularly dramatic flourish. The pope lies dead in his bed chamber. With visible effort, a red-capped cardinal wrenches an enormous ring from the great man's stubborn finger. Whereupon another cardinal, played by the towering John Lithgow, whacks the ring with a ceremonial hammer, splits it in two and solemnly declares: 'Sede vacante', Latin for 'with the seat being vacant'. It not only makes for captivating viewing, but the ritual is also actually (mostly) true. The so-called Ring of the Fisherman, a signet ring historically used by the pope to seal letters and documents with wax, is symbolically broken upon his death. Once upon a time, it was to physically prevent forgeries; today, the act signifies the end of his authority. 'I don't think the cardinals quite behave as they're depicted [in Conclave ],' says Miles Pattenden, a historian of the Catholic Church, 'but in terms of how it lays out the process, it's pretty good.' In real life, the funeral arrangements and subsequent machinations dictating how the next pope is chosen are also cloaked in mystique, following 'a very well-established protocol which goes back, ultimately, into the Middle Ages', says Pattenden, co-author of The Cambridge History of the Papacy. The selection of a new pope – who is regarded in Catholicism to be a successor to St Peter, one of the 12 apostles, the first bishop of Rome – reverberates not only with the 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide but with anyone influenced by his leadership and worldview. So, what does happen immediately after a pope dies? What is the conclave? And what is the significance of black or white smoke from the roof of the Sistine Chapel? What happens after a pope dies? It used to be thought that once a pope had died, those present double-checked by tapping him on the forehead with a silver hammer. Maybe it happened back in the mists of time; more likely, it's a myth – the Vatican denies it, at least. Instead, the official process begins when the head of the Vatican's health department confirms a pope's death, after which the Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, the senior official who oversees the papal household (currently Irish-born Cardinal Kevin Farrell), assumes the role of the Vatican's de facto administrator. The pope's body is dressed in a white cassock. In a ceremony, the Camerlengo calls out the pope's name three times and, when he does not reply, formally states he is dead. The Camerlengo then arranges for the destruction of the Ring of the Fisherman, which traditionally carried an image of St Peter fishing from a boat and was used until the mid-19th century to seal official documents. Exactly how it gets destroyed today is caught up in mythology, but the outcome is it's defaced, so it can't be used. 'It used to be done with a chisel and a hammer. In some movies, they show you, they crack it totally; in others, they just put a line through it,' says Darius von Guttner, a historian at Australian Catholic University. 'The moment it is destroyed and cannot be used again, that means the authority of the pope is finished.' The Camerlengo then authorises official documents authenticating the pope's death and a statement to the media and seals the pope's residence. The Catholic Church observes nine days of mourning, several days of which have been traditionally set for the pope's embalmed body to lie in state at St Peter's Basilica – the spiritual centre for Roman Catholics – where people flow past to pay respects. Francis has eschewed more elaborate rituals for his own funeral rites: unlike that of previous popes, his body will not be displayed on a raised pedestal. A pope traditionally had three coffins nested in one another, of cypress, lead and oak, but Francis has chosen to have one simple coffin. The Vatican's master of liturgical ceremonies, Monsignor Diego Ravelli, said in 2024 that the new rites were meant 'to emphasise even more that the Roman pontiff's funeral is that of a shepherd and disciple of Christ and not of a powerful man of this world'. A funeral must take place four to six days after the pope's death. This funeral will almost certainly take place at St Peter's Square, the huge plaza in front of St Peter's Basilica, which can fit about 300,000 people. Francis will be buried, according to tradition, with coins minted during his papacy and a canister containing a 'rogito' or deed that lists details of his life and papacy and is read aloud before the coffin is closed. 'The fact of this is that it's the most secretive election process on Earth.' Vatican correspondent Christopher White Popes are usually buried at the Vatican Grottoes, vaults beneath St Peter's; Francis, however, has chosen to be buried in central Rome at St Mary Major, a major basilica. 'It's a church that's very close to him. He used to go there and pray during his visits to Rome before he became Pope,' says Christopher White, a Vatican correspondent for National Catholic Reporter. 'It's quite fitting, in my estimation, that this man who was elected in 2013 as an outsider has chosen to be buried outside the Vatican. He didn't like to be shackled by the Vatican. He often said when he travelled it was when he was at his freest because he viewed the Vatican as a prison. So it makes all the sense in the world that he wants to go to his eternal rest somewhere outside the Vatican walls.' What's the conclave? Upon news of the Pope's death (or his likely imminent demise), cardinals from around the world descend on Rome for the conclave, the meeting that occurs only for the particular purpose of choosing a new pope. After the funeral, the cardinals attend meetings called general congregations where they discuss the state of the Catholic Church and what kind of leader it might need at this point in history, including on issues such as climate change, migration and same-sex marriage. 'There will be those looking for a candidate of continuity, someone that will continue the reforms of Pope Francis, making the Catholic Church more welcoming, less hierarchical, less clericalist, a priority for those on the margins,' White says. 'And then there will be those that want perhaps a candidate who reverts back to some of the priorities of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. That camp would see some of the reforms of the Francis papacy as going too far.' The forging of alliances can be tricky for journalists to report on. 'The fact of this is that it's the most secretive election process on Earth,' says White. 'You know, these meetings take place behind closed doors. So, of course, we rely on leaks and sort of talking to cardinals willing to paint a portrait of the conversations that are taking place, and then when they enter the conclave, really, no one has any clue what happens until a new pope emerges.' After these initial meetings comes the formal conclave, now of movie fame. Church rules state the conclave must begin between 15 and 20 days after the death of the pope. This is when the cardinals assemble in the Sistine Chapel, under Michelangelo's famous fresco, behind locked doors (conclave comes from the Latin for 'room that can be locked up') to contemplate, discuss and then vote for the next pope. All 252 members of the College of Cardinals can attend, but only those aged under 80 on the day that it commences are allowed to vote: today, it's some 138 electors. (In 1975, St Paul VI ruled that there should not be more than 120 cardinal electors at any one time, but John Paul II and Pope Benedict both exceeded this limit, which is now seen as an 'arbitrary ceiling', says White.) Once in the chapel, the cardinal electors don't interact with anybody beyond its doors. The chapel is barred from electronic communication and has even, in the past, been swept for bugs. 'The secrecy is there to protect cardinal electors from the outside world,' says Darius von Guttner. 'When they actually sit down in those chairs in the Sistine Chapel, they're supposed to vote in accordance with what they feel, what they think, and what divine inspiration gives them.' Pattenden elaborates: 'The theology of it is that the Holy Spirit descends on the cardinals, he enters into them, and he inspires their choice. So the man is picked by God and therefore can claim to be God's representative.' 'It's not just the conniving backstabbing that some popular culture makes it out to be. There's often a lot of serious talks and theological issues and debates.' Theologian Joel Hodge Nevertheless, Conclave author Robert Harris told Publishers Weekly in 2016, 'It is between the ballots, in the lunch breaks and in the evenings that the politics happens. The cardinals gather in one another's rooms, in the corridors and in the dining rooms. There are factions. They switch their votes, trying to rally the maximum support behind the candidate who best represents their view. It's nothing new. This has been going on for seven centuries.' Says White: 'I think the film is completely implausible. It's the stuff of fiction, and so viewers shouldn't be expecting any sort of imitation of that. At the same time, I think the film is a love letter to the Vatican's pomp and circumstance ... and so there will be many, many similarities on that.' Joel Hodge, a theologian at the Australian Catholic University, agrees: 'It's not just the conniving backstabbing that some popular culture makes it out to be. There's often a lot of serious talks and theological issues and debates.' Historically, the cardinals used to be physically barred from leaving the chapel until a decision was made; these days, under rules laid out by Saint John Paul II in 1996, the Universi Dominici Gregis, they are allowed to retire to their rooms in the Casa Santa Marta guesthouse, but are still strictly forbidden from revealing what goes on, under pain of excommunication. How does voting work (and what does the smoke mean)? Technically, the Cardinal College can elect to the papacy any baptised, unmarried Catholic man. In practice, a requirement that the pope be at least a bishop (cardinals are leaders often selected from the roughly 5000 bishops around the world) rules out most dreamers. It's extremely likely that the successful candidate will come from within the cardinals in the conclave itself: the last non-cardinal to be elected pope was the Archbishop of Bari, Urban VI, way back in 1378. A chemical brew is added to a little furnace to change the colour of the resulting smoke. There is actually no list of candidates (although some cardinals might make it known they are not interested in the role to excuse themselves from the vote). Electors simply write a name on a piece of paper on which is printed the words 'Eligo in Summum Pontificem', Latin for 'I elect as supreme pontiff', according to Gerard O'Connell in his 2019 book The Election of Pope Francis: An Inside Account of the Conclave That Changed History. The cardinals then deposit the slip into an urn, saying loudly: 'I call as my witness Christ the Lord, who will be my judge, that my vote is given to the one who, before God, I think should be elected.' The victor requires a two-thirds majority – arrived at after multiple rounds of voting. The first day of the conclave has just one voting round; there are up to four rounds on each subsequent day. Votes are overseen by three scrutineers – cardinals ineligible to vote – who call out the name of each person who receives a vote as the tally is counted, record the results and then burn the ballots. A chemical brew is added to a little furnace to change the colour of the resulting smoke: black means a decision has not been made and white means that a new pope will soon be announced. As votes are tallied, frontrunners come into focus. After the first round, electors might end up ditching their initial choice to back one of several new frontrunners. 'That spiritual nature of it also should not be discounted – that, you know, they really search their feelings as to who is the best among them to do it,' says von Guttner. There is no limit on how long the process takes: the longest conclave in history, starting in 1268, lasted 34 months. The 1740 election of Benedict XIV lasted 181 days, during which four electors died. Pope Francis was elected in about 24 hours after five ballots. Once the victor is declared, the new pope-elect is asked whether they accept the role. 'You are the pope from the moment you say, 'Yes, I accept,'' says von Guttner. The pope can take a new name. Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, took his name from the 13th-century saint Francis of Assisi, known for challenging church norms and serving the poor. The new pope then heads to a room to one side of the chapel known as the Sala de Lacrima, or Room of Tears (where Pope Leo XIII is said to have cried upon his election in 1878). There, he changes out of his red cardinal robes into the white papal vestments, three sizes of which are laid out ready to be tailored to fit. Meanwhile, the public waits for the identity of the new pope to be revealed when he is presented on the central balcony at St Peter's Basilica. What factors can sway the vote? In 2013, after the surprise resignation of Benedict XVI, the conclave was clearly of a mind to shake things up a little. While the Italian cardinal Angelo Scola initially emerged as a frontrunner, so did the lesser-known Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Bergoglio. 'Three factors leaned heavily in Bergoglio's favour,' writes Gerard O'Connell. 'First, the great majority of Latin American cardinals were supporting him, with not one of them speaking badly about him; second, he had revealed his ability to communicate and inspire … and third, he had support from Asians and Africans as well as Europeans.' Once elected, Bergoglio, as Pope Francis, signalled he would live a more spartan life than his predecessors, declining to move into the opulent Vatican Palace and instead taking an apartment at the more modest Casa Santa Marta guesthouse. 'He is experimenting with this type of living arrangement, which is simple,' a Vatican spokesperson said at the time. 'No pope has ever really been able to control the election of his successor, partly because once he dies, their obligations to him are over.' Historian Miles Pattenden Pope Francis was prepared to speak out on issues such as immigration and climate change and was viewed by some as sympathetic to groups the church had traditionally excluded, including same-sex couples and divorcees. Whether the next pope will follow a similar path may be influenced by the kind of cardinals that Francis himself installed during his tenure: he selected around 80 per cent of the cardinals eligible to vote. Instead of favouring Vatican insiders, he cast a wide net, empowering leaders from some 70 nations worldwide. Also in the mix was the Australian Bishop Mykola Bychok of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, who became the youngest member of the College of Cardinals in December, at age 44. 'Francis has made some very idiosyncratic choices,' says Pattenden, who notes, however, 'No pope has ever really been able to control the election of his successor, partly because once he dies, their obligations to him are over.' So, who might be in the picture? 'For many centuries,' says Pattenden, who is affiliated with Oxford and Deakin universities, 'there was a preference to choose Italians. Now, there may be a preference to choose someone from the Global South because that's the image that the cardinals want to present to the church.' (The Global South is a term sometimes used to broadly group developing nations.) An African pope is a possibility, he says, suggesting Cardinal Robert Sarah from Guinea in West Africa, whom Francis appointed to a senior position in the Vatican in 2014 (he's now 79). The (much younger, at 67) Archbishop of Manila, Luis Tagle, is also a contender, says Pattenden. Loading Others to watch include Pietro Parolin, the 70-year-old cardinal secretary of state. 'He'll be a significant candidate, I would think, in the next election, says Pattenden. 'Presumably, every cardinal will have different sets of criteria, certain qualities they're looking for,' he says. 'Which ones they think are more or less important will vary from person to person. But they've had 12 years to identify the faults and flaws in Pope Francis, so they'll look for someone who remedies those.' Says Joel Hodge: 'One of the criticisms of Pope Francis has been that he hasn't been doctrinally clear and rigorous enough. He's given some very interesting teachings, like around the environment, but sometimes he's been a little bit unclear.' Vatican correspondent Christopher White expects to see a conservative bloc supporting a figure such as Cardinal Peter Erdo of Hungary and a progressive group aligning behind Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines or a moderate such as Parolin. Then there is always the X factor, says White. 'There are all sorts of unknown figures who can and almost certainly will emerge during a conclave process.'
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Papal elections aren't always as dramatic as ‘Conclave' − but the history behind the process is
I'm a historian of the medieval papacy and editor of the forthcoming three volumes of 'The Cambridge History of the Papacy.' So it was more or less mandatory for me to see the new movie 'Conclave,' which has racked up dozens of award nominations – and several high-profile wins – heading into the Academy Awards. Most recently, 'Conclave' took home the prize for best cast ensemble at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, where star Isabella Rossellini wished Pope Francis a quick recovery. The pope has been in a Rome hospital since Feb. 14, 2025, to treat pneumonia and other health issues. Based on Robert Harris' 2016 novel, the film shows the politics behind electing a pope to lead the world's 1.36 billion Catholics. Any researcher who has spent some time at the Vatican will find familiarity in the characters' speeches and behaviors, which are acted spot-on. What the movie does not do, though, is explain where the word 'conclave' comes from, and how the mysterious system was created in the first place. Conclave is formed from the Latin words for 'with key,' referring to how cardinals are sequestered to elect a pope – inside the Vatican, today; but wherever a pope died, in the Middle Ages. Why sequestered? Because it took centuries for the church to develop an electoral system free from manipulations and violence – which should resonate with contemporary politics. Once free from Byzantine and Holy Roman imperial controls, from the end of the 11th century forward, a medieval pope held powers far superior to the ones a pope holds today. Not only did he offer spiritual guidance, but the pope was heavily engaged in political affairs, including negotiations between states, and was head of the wealthiest institution around, collecting taxes and revenues from most of Europe. Electing this powerful figure was a cantankerous affair, marred by violence and external interference. Originally, in early Christianity, the pope had been nominated by the 'people of Rome' agreeing by consensus. In reality, that meant the election was in the hands of mobs, aristocrats, kings, emperors or anyone with any form of control over Rome. Consensus was achieved by either negotiation or force. Quite often, powerful people could appoint whomever they chose. For example, the 686 election of Pope Conon is described in 'The Book of Pontiffs,' a medieval collection of short papal biographies, as a chaotic affair that included the military. The author states that 'there was much argument, since the clergy favoured the archpriest Peter while the army were for Theodore, the next in seniority.' After long negotiations the clergy opted for Conon, who had been third in rank under the late pope. In addition to 'internal' pressures, a pattern emerged of mobs sacking the goods of the dead pope – sometimes including the clothes on his corpse and his liturgical garments. It is difficult to identify why: greed, certainly, and obtaining something that had been touched by holy men. But I would argue the mob also resented authorities who took the nomination process away from 'the people.' The Council of Chalcedon, a gathering of bishops in 451, forbade clerics from seizing a dead bishop's belongings, at risk of losing their rank. Another council a few years later decreed: 'Let no one, through theft, force, or deceit, conceal, take away, or hide anything' at the death of a bishop. Yet looting went on for centuries. In a 1050 letter to Catholics in the diocese of Osimo, in present-day Italy, Cardinal Peter Damian stated: From various reports we are aware of the perverse and wholly detestable practice of certain people, who at the death of the bishop break in like enemies and rob his house, like thieves make off with his belongings, set fire to the homes on his estate, and with fierce and savage barbarity cut down his grape vines and orchards. The movie may be alluding to this history when a cardinal asks Dean Lawrence, the man presiding over the conclave, if he could have the deceased pope's chess game. To salvage the electoral system from internal and external chaos, Pope Nicholas II decreed in 1059 that popes should be selected by men of the cloth – namely, cardinal-bishops. Up to then, cardinals had been involved in liturgical functions in the great basilicas of Rome. They could be priests, deacons or bishops. This did not work. A century later, Pope Alexander III decreed that all the cardinals – with equal representation between priests, deacons and bishops – would become the pope's electors, and a nominee needed to secure two-thirds of the votes to win. Still, intrigues and squabbles continued to mar the process for years. So long as there was a 'Vacant See' at the Vatican, the cardinals were the church's governors, so the incentive was on their side to delay the process. And the looting expanded, with cardinals' residences becoming new targets. Sacking would sometimes take place even before the pope was dead, as rumors of a selection circulated. The continued chaos, as well as cardinals' lengthy negotiations and ongoing external influences, pushed Pope Gregory X to act. In 1274, he instituted the decree 'Ubi periculum.' The first words of the text were 'Ubi periculum maius intenditur': 'Where greater danger lies.' A papal nomination was dangerous business – sometimes to the person, most often to his property. 'Ubi periculum' established the basics of the conclave system still used today – most importantly, that cardinals would be completely isolated and confined during the process. Sequestered cardinals would not tarry in long discussions, especially when they were away from the comfort of their own palaces, allowed only a single attendant and sleeping in simple cells. If they took longer than three days to decide, they lost the privilege of several daily meals, down to a single one. The politics of the stomach! Incidentally, the traditional looting now spread to the cells of the conclave. Under the new rules, the role of the cardinals was strictly limited to electing the next pope. But this did not prevent them from continuing their scheming. At the death of Gregory XI in 1378, the cardinals elected Pope Urban VI, but soon regretted it. A few months later, they deposed him and elected a new one, under the pretext that the first election took place under duress: the fear of the mobs. Still, they knew full well that the looting was 'customary.' The chronicler Dietrich of Niem, a witness to the events, made that clear. After Urban had been chosen – unanimously – 'he immediately moved his books and other valuables into a safe place, so that they would not be stolen,' Dietrich wrote. He added, 'It is a custom of the Romans to go in his palace and rob his books and things of this kind.' Catholics now had two popes: the one who had been elected in April 1378 – Urban VI, who refused to give up power – and the one elected in September 1378, Clement VII. Two popes, two courts and two 'obediences' divided Europe. The crisis, which lasted from 1378-1417, is called the Great Western Schism. Power is tantalizing – and electoral violence and manipulation are not new. This is an updated version of an article originally published on Nov. 12, 2024. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Joelle Rollo-Koster, University of Rhode Island Read more: St. Augustine was no stranger to culture wars – and has something to say about today's Medieval Europe was far from democratic, but that didn't mean tyrants got a free pass The real priest behind 'The Pope's Exorcist' was a fan of Hollywood horror films Joelle Rollo-Koster does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
