Electing a New Pope

[Renew Deal]

by Anthony Parente

In the event that the position of the Holy Roman Pontiff falls vacant it becomes the responsibility of the College of Cardinals to elect a new Pontiff. This is a process that has gone on for centuries and over the years changes have been made to ensure that the election goes both smoothly and quickly. There are strict guidelines that need to be followed and there are numerous traditions and rituals that take place.

The period from when the Pope dies until a new Pope is elected the Cardinal Camerlengo is responsible for the government of the Church. The Camerlengo is also responsible for verifying that the Pope is in fact dead. This is done by performing a Medieval ritual, which consists of the Camerlengo lightly striking the head of the dead pope three times with a silver mallet. Each time he does so he calls out to the pope by his birth name. When there is no response an announcement is made to all those who are present that the pope is dead. The fisherman's ring and the papal seals are then broken. The Camerlengo's main responsibilities are to prepare for the funeral and burial of the pope as well as make all the arrangements for the election of a new pope.

Within 15-20 days after the death of the pope the Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, excluding those Cardinals who are 80 years of age or older prior to the pope's death, enter the Conclave to elect a new pope. The total number of Cardinals can not exceed 120 and the conclave is held within the Vatican City.

In the past the conclave was sealed and everyone was forced to live within the confines of the area. The conclave was not designed to hold 120 people. The idea was to make the area uncomfortable so that there would not be a long period of time before a new Pope was elected. The conclave was introduced in the 13th century by Pope Gregory X, who was elected nearly three years after Pope Clement IV died. By sealing them off from the world the Cardinals would be protected from outside interference and thus speed the process of electing a new pope.
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http://www.italiansrus.com/articles/conclave.htm

[Sapphire Blue]

1. Profiles of possible candidates for next Pope

Sun Apr 3, 2005 01:20 AM ET

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The following are brief sketches of Roman Catholic cardinals seen as possible candidates to succeed Pope John Paul II, whose death was announced by the Vatican on Saturday.

Speculation about the next leader of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics is notoriously unpredictable and John Paul himself was a rank outsider whose election surprised the world.

This list is in alphabetical order, not in any ranking according to their chances, and cannot be considered complete because candidates do not publicly announce their plans:


FRANCIS ARINZE (NIGERIAN), BORN NOV 1, 1932

JORGE MARIO BERGOGLIO (ARGENTINE), BORN DEC 17, 1936

DARIO CASTRILLON HOYOS (COLOMBIAN), BORN JULY 4, 1929

GODFRIED DANNEELS (BELGIAN) BORN JUNE 4, 1933

IVAN DIAS (INDIAN), BORN APRIL 14, 1936

CLAUDIO HUMMES (BRAZILIAN), BORN AUG 8, 1934

JOSEPH RATZINGER (GERMAN), BORN APRIL 16, 1927

NICOLAS DE JESUS LOPEZ RODRIGUEZ (DOMINICAN), BORN OCT. 31, 1936

GIOVANNI BATTISTA RE (ITALIAN), BORN JAN. 30, 1934

OSCAR ANDRES RODRIGUEZ MARADIAGA (HONDURAN), BORN DEC. 29, 1942

CHRISTOPH SCHOENBORN (AUSTRIAN), BORN JAN. 22, 1945

ANGELO SCOLA (ITALIAN), BORN NOV. 7, 1941

DIONIGI TETTAMANZI (ITALIAN), BORN MARCH 14, 1934


Information on the Cardinals listed above is available @ http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=8068944


List of Cardinals: http://www.catholic-pages.com/hierarchy/cardinals_list.asp

[cobaindrain]

3. Shoenborn would be a wise choice

about the same age as John Paul when he was chosen, incredibly smart and affable.

[Sapphire Blue]

2. JORGE MARIO BERGOGLIO (ARGENTINE), BORN DEC. 17, 1936

Excerpt...

Stories of his humility abound. When he was appointed a cardinal in 2001, Bergoglio persuaded hundreds of Argentines not to fly to Rome to celebrate with him but donate to the poor the money they had raised for their airline tickets.

He declined to move into the luxurious archbishop's residence, preferring a simple apartment nearby where he lives with an old bishop and usually cooks dinner.

He gets around town mostly by bus, often wearing the cassock of a simple priest rather than any episcopal finery.

In 2000, as the Pope apologised for the Church's sins down the centuries, Bergoglio had clergy wear garments of penance for sins committed during the country's military dictatorship.

http://www.newindpress.com/popejohnpaulii/News.asp?Topic=361&Title=Reports&ID=IEH20050403120831&nDate=&Sub=&Cat=

[aneerkoinos]

4. Imagine

Electing Tenzin Osel as the head of the Catholic Church. How miraculously divine that would be!

http://www.fpmt.org/teachers/osel/default.asp

No, I'm not hoping. I'm planting...