Cardinals are gathering in Rome to prepare to elect the next pope. They’ve scheduled Pope Francis’s funeral for this Saturday. The preparatory sessions for the next papal conclave have begun.
At a time like this, even the average Catholic might be prompted to ask exactly what a papal conclave is, and how it works. Here are the answers.
A papal conclave is the election process by which a new pope, the visible head of the Catholic Church, is selected.
Catholics believe that the pope is the vicar of Christ and successor of St. Peter, the visible leader of the universal Church, against which Jesus promises the gates of hell will never prevail (Matt. 16:18-19). After a pope dies or resigns, a papal conclave commences within three weeks to elect his successor. A conclave is the gathering of the College of Cardinals in which these papal electors choose the next pope.
The Process of Electing a Pope in the Catholic Church
When a pope dies, there are nine days of mourning, as prescribed in the apostolic constitution that governs the election of a pope, Universi Domenici Gregis, which Pope St. John Paul issued in 1996 (13b; 27).
Upon the pope’s death (or resignation, though this is much less common), the Church follows a process established over centuries to elect his successor. The period between two popes is called an interregnum, Latin for “between reigns” of two popes.
In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI restored the traditional requirement that a two-thirds majority of cardinal electors is needed to elect a pope, no matter how many ballots are required to complete the conclave voting process. In his 2013 motu propio Normas Nonnullas, Benedict further decreed that, whether a pope dies or resigns, the election of his successor must commence after a maximum of twenty days from when the papal see becomes vacant (37).
Despite the absence of a pope for a period of time, the faithful take comfort in knowing that the Church continues, reminded that the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings (Rev. 17:14), never relinquishes his divine reign over his Catholic Church.
Historical Origins of the Papal Conclave
The word “conclave” derives from the Latin words cum clavis, meaning “with key.” After the death of Pope Clement IV in November 1268, the interregnum dragged on for almost three years. The lay faithful of Viterbo, Italy, aided the selection process by locking the cardinal electors in the city’s episcopal palace, and also limiting their food supply (!), until they elected a new pope:
In 1271 the election that ended with the choice of Gregory X at Viterbo had lasted over two years and nine months when the local authorities, weary of the delay, shut up the cardinals within narrow limits and thus hastened the desired election (Raynald, Ann. Eccl., ad an. 1271). The new pope endeavored to obviate for the future such scandalous delay by the law of the conclave, which, almost in spite of the cardinals, he promulgated at the fifth session of the Second Council of Lyons in 1274 (Hefele, Hist. des Conciles, IX, 29). It is the first occasion on which we meet with the word conclave in connection with papal elections.
Voting Eligibility in the Papal Conclave
In a papal conclave, the College of Cardinals gathers to select the next pope. The college is composed of Catholic bishops, from around the world, whom a pope had selected, or “created a cardinal.”
Cardinal electors are eligible to vote for a pope until they reach eighty years of age. The cardinals gather in the Sistine Chapel for a secret election—secret to thwart outside interference, as papal conclave history has included political interference over the centuries.
The cardinals pray for the Holy Spirit’s guidance before casting their votes. To be elected, a candidate must receive a two-thirds majority.
The Announcement of a New Pope
Once a pope is chosen, and provided he accepts his election, white smoke rises from the Sistine Chapel. The new Roman pontiff selects a papal (or regnal) name, and subsequently he is announced to the world with the words “Habemus papam!” (We have a pope!).
Now you have an idea of how the next few weeks and months should play out in the Vatican. For more on what Catholics believe about the pope, and what happens when a pope dies, you can read our related tract.