VATICAN — The conclave to elect the new pope — the successor to Pope Francis and the 266th successor to St. Peter — begins on the afternoon of Wednesday, May 7, when 133 cardinals from 70 countries and all continents enter the Sistine Chapel to cast their first vote in an election that is hidden from the eyes of the world.
It is a truly global conclave, the largest and most diversified in history, with 17 electors from Africa, 23 from Asia, 52 from Europe (including 19 Italians), 23 Latin America (incl. Mexico), 14 from North America (including 10 USA and 4 Canadians), and 4 from Oceania.
On the previous Tuesday evening, or at latest early Wednesday morning, all the cardinal electors will have to move inside the walls of the Vatican City State and take up their rooms in Santa Marta, the Vatican guesthouse where Francis had lived throughout his pontificate. But since that building does not have enough rooms to accommodate 13 cardinals will reside in the nearby older Santa Marta building.
At 10 a.m. on Wednesday the 133 cardinal electors and some 100 cardinals who cannot enter the conclave because they are over the age of 80 will come together in St. Peter’s Basilica to concelebrate the “Mass for the Election of the Roman Pontiff” (as the pope is called).
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, 91, the dean of the College of Cardinals will be the main celebrant. He is likely to deliver a homily encouraging the electors to choose a pope who can give good leadership to the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics and to the other inhabitants of planet Earth at this epoch-changing era in the history of humanity.
After mass, the cardinal electors will return to the old and new Santa Marta buildings for lunch and a rest before entering the conclave (the word conclave means “with keys”, signifying that they are totally secluded from the world, and have to hand over their smartphones).
Later that afternoon they will be taken by coach, under escort, from their guesthouses to the Vatican’s Apostolic where, on arrival, they will be led to the Pauline Chapel, a chapel named after Pope Paul III who had it built between 1537 and 1540.
The Book of Rites
There, at 4.30 p.m. (local time), the ceremony — in accordance with the Book of Rites for the Conclave — will be opened by the Italian cardinal Pietro Parolin, 70, secretary of state under Pope Francis and a leading contender to succeed him, who because of his seniority in the order of cardinal-bishops, will preside over the conclave until the election of the new pope.
Cardinal Parolin will deliver a brief exhortation, after which the cardinals, dressed in their scarlet robes, will walk slowly in procession to the Sistine Chapel. A cross will be carried at the head of the procession, followed by the Sistine choir, the masters of ceremony, sacristans, the secretary of the College of Cardinals, the Brazilian archbishop Ilson Montanari, the Italian Franciscan cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, O.F.M. Cap., 90, who will give the meditation to the electors before they vote.
Next will come the 133 cardinal electors, and at the end of the procession will come a deacon carrying the book of the Gospels. As they walk, the Sistine choir will lead them in singing the Veni Creator Spiritus, the Latin hymn invoking the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit for the task ahead.
The cardinals enter the Sistine Chapel two by two, walk to the centre, bow before the cross, and then go to their pre-assigned seats on either side of the central aisle. They will see around them the magnificent frescoes on the walls of the chapel, depicting the life of Moses and of Christ.
Pope Sixtus IV celebrated the first Mass here in 1483, and the first conclave was held here in 1513.
Once all the cardinals are seated, Cardinal Parolin, will recite the solemn oath that binds the cardinals to observe faithfully all the norms and prescriptions of the constitution — Universi Dominici Gregis, promulgated by John Paul II in1996 — regarding the papal election. The oath will also bind them, under pain of excommunication, to maintain strict secrecy at all times regarding all that happened in the conclave. Once the cardinal has finished taking the oath, each of the electors go to the lectern in the centre of the Sistine Chapel and do likewise.
After all the electors have taken the oath, the Master of Ceremonies Archbishop Diego Ravelli orders everyone in a loud voice to leave the chapel, saying “Extra Omnes!” (“All out”).
The whole ceremony will be transmitted live to the world by Vatican television.
Doors locked from inside
Only Archbishop Ravelli and Cardinal Cantalamessa remain in the Sistine Chapel with the electors. The cardinal then gives his meditation, and when it is ended, they both leave the chapel, and the junior cardinal dean locks the doors from the inside, while the Swiss Guards stand guard at the door to prevent anyone entering.
What takes place next is hidden from the outside world in an election ritual that dates back almost 1,000 years. The windows of the Sistine Chapel have been blacked out, and the conclave organizers have taken maximum high-security measures to prevent the possibility of transmission by smartphone from the inside and electronic interception by outside agencies or individuals.
Cardinal Parolin, who is presiding over the conclave, explains the election process and then asks the cardinals if they are ready to vote. On receiving their assent, the ballot sheets are distributed. Then the names of three “scrutineers” and three “revisers” are extracted at random to supervise the first voting session.
The next phase is the secret ballot when each cardinal writes the name of the man he chooses on the rectangular ballot form, where it is written in Latin words that mean “I elect as Supreme Pontiff……”. He is asked to write in a way that his handwriting cannot be identified. He then must fold his ballot form lengthwise in a way that the name of the person he voted for cannot be seen.
Once all the electors have written the names of their chosen candidate and folded their ballot form, then each cardinal, in order of precedence, takes his ballot sheet, and holding it high so that it can be seen, takes it to the altar.
At the altar, where the scrutineers are standing, there is an urn, made of silver and bronze, with an image of the Good Shepherd on it. The urn is covered by a gilded plate to receive the ballot sheets.
On arrival at the altar, the elector, standing under Michelangelo’s painting of The Last Judgment, says in a loud voice: “I call as my witness Christ the Lord, who will be my judge, that my vote is given to the one whom, before God, I think should be elected.” He then places his ballot sheet on the plate and tilts the plate in such a way that the sheet falls into the urn.
When all 133 electors have cast their votes, the three scrutineers count them, following the ritual prescribed in the constitution. The first scrutineer shakes up the ballot sheets, the second one counts them to ensure the number of votes corresponds to the number of electors, and then the third records the number of votes cast. Then the first scrutineer takes out each ballot one by one, reads the name silently, then passes it to the second scrutineer who does likewise and passes it to the third scrutineer who reads out the name in a loud voice.
A moment of high tension
The counting is always a moment of high tension for the cardinals, as they listen. This first ballot is crucial as it will reveal which of the 133 electors is really considered “papabile” (possible pope).
It’s very likely that this first vote will be widely scattered, as at the last conclave where, as I reported in my book – The Election of Pope Francis: An Inside account of the conclave that changed history, one in five of the electors received at least one vote, as many were uncertain whom to vote for and were seeking guidance from that first ballot. In actual fact, only 4 cardinals received more than 10 votes (with the top vote getter – Cardinal Angelo Scola - receiving 30, and Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio – the future pope, 26). In that election, the top two contenders proved to be the real candidates to be pope, and after four more ballots Bergoglio was elected pope and took the name Francis.
Black smoke
Once votes are counted, the ballot sheets are collected and put in one of the two stoves that have been installed at the back of the Sistine Chapel: one to burn the ballots, the other with an electronic smoke-producing device. After that first ballot, both stoves are activated and black smoke — signalling that no one has been elected — issues forth from the slender rust-coloured chimney of the Sistine Chapel that has just been installed in preparation for the conclave.
That first evening, in accordance with the constitution, there is only one ballot. Therefore, after the burning of the ballots, the electors return to their respective guesthouses for dinner, and many will caucus together to decide how to move forward in the voting. They will discuss the pros and cons for each of the top contenders and decide either individually or in groups for whom to cast their next vote, to either elect a candidate or to block the election of a candidate.
Much the same is likely to happen in this conclave as very many electors do not know each other and so a great number of electors will be looking for enlightenment from that first ballot.
On Thursday, May 8, the second day of the conclave, the electors will vote two times in the morning, and if no cardinal obtains two-thirds of the votes cast (this time 89) – the number required to be elected, black smoke will stream out of the chimney of the Sistine Chapel.
They will return home for lunch at their residences and discuss among themselves what to do next. At the 2013 conclave it was already clear from the morning’s votes that Bergoglio would be elected pope in the afternoon.
If, as is likely, the cardinals have not elected a cardinal after voting on the morning of May 8, they will return to the Sistine Chapel to vote in the afternoon, a fourth and, if necessary a fifth time unless someone is elected.
If at the end of the day, the cardinals still have not elected the pope, they will return to their guesthouses for dinner and discuss among themselves.
If after three days of voting, they have not elected a pope, then according to the constitution they will have to take a one-day break for prayer and reflection, before returning to vote the following day.
Only two papal elections since 1939 have lasted longer than two days: those of John XXIII and John Paul II and both were elected on the third day.
According to the constitution, once a cardinal receives two-thirds of the votes, the protodeacon Cardinal Dominique Mamberti will ask him if he accepts the election and, if so, what name will he choose. Once he says “yes” to the election, he becomes pope.
The room of tears
He is then led to the “room of tears” — a small robing room on the left-hand side of The Last Judgment painting — where he exchanges his scarlet cassock and “zucchetto” (skull cap) for the white ones of the pope. When he returns to the Sistine Chapel, each cardinal comes to receive the homage and obedience of the cardinals.
While he was in “the room of the tears” (as it is called because of the strong emotions felt by the newly elected pope, which can sometimes result in tears) the ballot sheets are burned in the first stove, and the appropriate chemical is inserted in the second stove to ensure that the smoke that comes out of the chimney is white.
About an hour later the protodeacon cardinal goes to the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to announce to the world “Habemus Papam!” (We have a pope!)
