A look at the secretive transition when the pope dies

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VATICAN - After the pope’s death, the key role in the administration and government of the Vatican City State and the Holy See falls to the Cardinal Camerlengo (or Chamberlain), a post that is today held by the American cardinal, Kevin Farrell, 77. Pope Francis appointed him to this position of great trust. His power is limited, however, and he is answerable to the College of Cardinals.

Upon the pope’s death, his first duty is to verify that the pope is dead. He goes to the place (the chapel) where the body has been placed, accompanied by the Director of the Vatican Health Services Andrea Arcangeli, the Dean of the College of Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, 91, and the Master of Pontifical Liturgical Ceremonies Archbishop Diego Ravelli. On arrival there, they pray. Next, the director of the health services, who is a doctor, examines the body and confirms the death. The Camerlengo then announces: “Our Pastor, the Roman Pontiff Francis, is dead with Christ. We believe firmly that he will live with Christ!”

After a moment of silence, the Camarlengo leads the gathering in prayer, and then they all leave the chapel.

He then notifies other top church officials of the pope’s death. At that point, in accordance with the constitution for the election of the pope, Universi Dominici Gregis the heads of all the Vatican offices cease to exercise their roles, with only a few exceptions.

Pope’s apartment sealed

The Camarlengo next places seals on the pope’s apartment to prevent anyone from removing documents or other things from it. He then initiates the preparations for the pope’s funeral. Francis had simplified the hitherto pompous rites to make the funeral of a pope more like that of an ordinary Christian. The funeral, as a rule, takes place between the fourth and sixth day after his death, and begins with a solemn Mass. The Camarlengo presides over the burial of the pope.

The Camarlengo also has a lead role in the preparation for the conclave, which must take place not before 15 days and not later than 20 after the pope’s death.

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Once the Dean of the College of Cardinals receives official confirmation of the pope’s death, he notifies all the cardinals throughout the world and summons them to the Vatican to participate in the pre-conclave plenary assemblies (called “General Congregations”) of the cardinals.

The presence of the cardinals in Rome is essential because during the vacancy of the See of Peter (“sede vacante” in Latin), the period that extends from the death of the pope to the election of his successor. As the constitution governing the election of the pope, states, the government of the Catholic Church is entrusted to the College of Cardinals in this period of vacant see. But its power is limited, and is “solely for the dispatch of ordinary business and of matters which cannot be postponed, and for the preparation of everything necessary for the election of the new pope.”

252 cardinals from 96 nations

The College of Cardinals has today 252 members from 96 countries, and all have to come to Rome once the pope dies, and consult together in plenary assemblies with a view to the election of the new pope. All 252 have the right to participate in the plenary assemblies, but only those under the age of 80 on the day the pope dies have the right to enter the conclave and vote to elect the new pope.

Soon after the pope’s death, the Cardinal Camarlengo and one senior cardinal from each of the three orders into which College of Cardinals is divided (bishops, priests and deacons), meet to decide the date for the first plenary assembly of the cardinals.

An oath of secrecy

From that date onwards, these assemblies will be held daily until the start of the conclave, and will be presided over by the Dean of the College of Cardinals. These are important gatherings, and only cardinals can participate. As soon as a cardinal joins the assembly he has to take an oath of secrecy and – the constitution states – “to maintain rigorous secrecy with regard to all matters in any way related to the election of the Roman Pontiff or those which, by their very nature, during the vacancy of the Apostolic See, call for the same secrecy.”

The constitution imposes secrecy at these assemblies to allow the cardinals to speak their minds freely, without fear that what they say will be reported in the press.

At these assemblies, the cardinals will discuss the situation in the Catholic church and in the world at this moment in history, and the challenges the new pope will face. They will speak about the deceased pope, his governance of the church, and his way of exercising the papal office. They will propose what they would like the next pope to do, and maybe develop an identikit of the kind of man to succeed Francis. These meetings offer a unique opportunity for cardinals to hear the views of their fellow cardinals, to get to know their thinking, and to identify “papabili,” the Italian word for potential candidates to be pope.

The 30 or more cardinals who are living in Rome, many of them working in the Vatican, are sure to attend the first plenary assembly, others will join as soon as they arrive in town. Once all the cardinals have arrived, the assembly can vote on the date for the start of the conclave.

Private gatherings

The plenary meetings are important, but so too – and perhaps even more so - are the private gatherings of cardinals in the fifteen or more days before the conclave. Some will caucus in religious houses, in or outside Rome. Others will talk over lunch or dinner in restaurants, or in the private apartments of Vatican cardinals. Many will caucus in language groups: English is the main language, followed by Spanish and Italian. They will suggest and discuss “papabili.” Such private meetings can be crucial in promoting a candidate as happened at the 2013 conclave, as I reveal in my book on The Election of Pope Francis: An Inside Account of the Conclave that Changed History.

Europeans no longer have majority of votes

Today, there are 137 cardinal electors from 71 countries. (These numbers change as cardinals turn 80). Among them are 53 Europeans (including 17 Italians), 14 North Americans (Canada 4, USA 10), 24 Latin Americans, 18 Africans, 24 Asians, and 4 from Oceania. This means the Europeans no longer have a majority of votes in the conclave. Pope Francis has created 109 of the 137 electors, which suggests [but does not guarantee] that the next pope could be one who shares his vision of church and his approach to the world.

Since the 137 electors come from different parts of the world and many do not know each other well, in the next conclave as in previous ones, a key role will be played by the “kingmakers,” these are influential or esteemed cardinals, whose advice and knowledge can promote or rule out a candidate and swing votes in the election. Some ‘kingmakers’ are over the age of 80 and no longer electors, such as Oswald Gracias (India), Christoph Schönborn (Austria), Sean P. O’Malley (USA), Marc Ouellet (Canada) John Onaiyekan (Nigeria). Others become key actors inside the conclave.

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Only the cardinal electors can enter the conclave. They do so early on the morning of the designated day and first go to the rooms assigned to them in the Casa Santa Marta, the five-storey Vatican guesthouse run by an order of nuns [The Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul] , adjacent to St. Peter’s Basilica. The hotel-like guesthouse, refurbished in 1996, has more that 120 furnished bedrooms, with bathrooms and studies, and provides dining facilities and personal services. Pope Francis lived here, instead of in the Vatican Palace.

The word “conclave,” a Latin word meaning “with key,” indicating that once inside the cardinals are sealed off from the outside world, and prohibited from communicating in any way, by phone or otherwise, with people outside, until the election of the new pope.

Before their arrival, the Vatican will have used elaborate high-tech security to ensure that Casa Santa Marta, as well as the Sistine Chapel where the cardinals will vote, is secured from outside electronic eavesdropping. The constitution prohibits cardinals from taking their mobile phones or any photographic or recording devices into the Sistine Chapel.

The conclave is above all a religious event; its purpose is to elect the spiritual leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics. It begins with a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica in the morning. That afternoon, the cardinal electors, dressed in their red cassocks, process into the Sistine Chapel, as the Sistine choir sings, to cast their votes for the first time. Once they are all inside the chapel, the doors are closed to the outside world. Swiss Guards stand on guard outside the doors.

Since the Cardinal Dean is over the age of 80, the senior cardinal elector - Cardinal Pietro Parolin, will preside over the conclave. A candidate needs to receive two-thirds of the votes cast to be elected pope. When the voting starts, the cardinals walk one by one, in order of precedence, to the altar under the awesome painting of Michelangelo’s Last Judgement and pronounce the following oath: “I call as my witness Christ the Lord, who will be my judge, that my vote is give to the one whom, before God, I think should be elected.” He then casts his ballot sheet onto a plate and then drops it into an urn, to be counted when all have voted.

Votes are likely to be scattered in the first ballot as many cardinals may be unsure for whom to vote, but this ballot should reveal the four or five frontrunners, the candidates with the most votes.

Smoke signals

When the voting has ended and been counted, the ballots sheets are burned, with an added color substance, in a stove inside the chapel, and the outside world, including thousands gathered in St. Peter’s Square, receives news of the result by a smoke signal from the Sistine Chapel: black smoke means no one is elected, white smoke announces there is a new pope.

That first night in conclave, the cardinals will discuss the results of the voting, and many will caucus in groups to see how to proceed in the next vote.

Next day, they will vote twice in the morning, and those ballots could signal who are the real candidates. There will be further discussions at lunch as supporters of the different candidate seek to gain support for their man. There will be two more ballots in the afternoon, unless a candidate receives the two thirds majority.

If no one is elected in those first five ballots, the cardinals will vote twice in the morning of the second day, and twice in the afternoon, and likewise on subsequent days -sometimes with a day’s break - until the pope is elected. When a candidate receives the required two-thirds of the votes, he is asked if he accepts the election and what name he chooses.

Once the pope has been elected, a white smoke signal breaks the news to the world, and about one hour later the senior cardinal deacon, Dominque Mamberti, 72, a Frenchman, will announce in Latin, from the central balcony of St.Peter’s Basilica, “Habemus Papam” (“We have a pope”) and then give his name also in Latin! Soon after, the new pope will make his first appearance there and greet the cheering crowd in St. Peter’s Square.