WHEN SAD DAY COMES, EYES OF WORLD WILL BE ON PAPAL SELECTION AS NEVER BEFORE
When, God forbid, the Pope leaves this earth, it will kick into play a process of selection that promises to be the most important crossroads for the Church since Vatican II.
Fortunately, John Paul II again has defied morbid expectations, and with God's grace, will spiritually lead the Church for a good while yet; his mere presence is the important thing; he doesn't need to talk or administer. And when he does leave this planet, he will be a yet greater intercessor.
But as with anyone who is his age, and with his infirmities, the questions about what may happen when he is gone are understandable. He will be happy -- but how happy will be those he leaves behind? Will the next Pope stay the course, will he go right down the line with John Paul II's ecumenical (and at the same time conservative) course, or veer toward modernism? Will he be as mystical as John Paul II or of a more institutional bent? Will he be prone to further modernizing the liturgy, or will he turn the Church back toward the Latin Mass? Will he maintain the Church's strict celibacy restriction for priests, or allow priests to marry?
Those questions as yet have no answers and for that reason when the day comes to choose a new Pope, Catholics worldwide will cast a more intense eye on the selection process -- on every nuance of the process -- than ever before, with the media from all aspects of every culture joining in the public glare. It will be the most famous passing in centuries.
There will also be the prophetic component: many are those who believe that John Paul II's death will be a watershed, followed by major world events that his mere presence (the power of his pontificate, and indeed his prayers) have held in abeyance. Expect interesting events and dates to be associated with his birth into the eternal.
How will the next pontiff be chosen?
When the sad and great day of Karol Wojytyla's passing comes, the process will be something like this: after the medical technicians are through, a cardinal will verify his death by calling the Pope's name three times. When there is no response, the Pope is pronounced dead. The cardinal must then authorize a death certificate and make the event public.
That's done by notifying the Cardinal Vicar for the Diocese of Rome, who then arranges for the papal seal to be broken.
After this, he must prepare for the papal funeral and the nine days of mourning which follow. After fifteen to twenty days of sermons, the Cardinal Electors enter the Conclave to choose which cardinal will be the next Pope. The cardinals first must take an oath when entering the Conclave. The oath states that they will follow the rules given by the Pope and will be secret about the voting and deliberations. The penalty for breaking the oath given in the Conclave is automatic and immediate excommunication.
The word "conclave" comes from the Latin phrase cum clavis, meaning "with key." The term is suitable since the cardinals are locked inside the Sistine Chapel during the voting process. A conclave begins no earlier than 15 days and no later than twenty days after the Pope's death.
The Cardinals are seated around the walls of the chapel, where they are given a ballot of paper. After they have placed a name on their ballot, they proceed to turn the ballots in, one by one. Each rectangular ballot is inscribed at the top with the words, Eligo in Summum Pontificem, meaning "I elect as supreme pontiff." Below these words, each cardinal writes down the name of the person he chooses as the pope. The Cardinal Camerlango and his three assistants then count the votes. After they are counted the ballots are all burned together to give off smoke.
"This smoke is white if a new Pope has been elected, and black if not," notes one research service. "For one to be elected Pope, any Cardinal must receive more than two-thirds of the votes. Once the Cardinal has received the votes, the Dean of the College of Cardinals asks him to accept his election. If he accepts he is then asked what name he wishes to be called; the cardinal then becomes the Pontifex Maximus, the Holy Roman Pontiff. He is then pledged obedience to by the other cardinals. Then the news is given his pontifical clericals. The Dean of the College of Cardinals walks out on the main balcony of the chapel and declares to the world: 'We have a Pope.'"
We review this because, when the time comes, whether this year or two years from now or more years (hopefully) into the future, we will need to pray about the process, and it helps in prayer to know such details.
At any rate: after the election (will he be deeply prayerful? will he be European? will he be from Africa? will he be an insider or an outsider?), the newly appointed Pope will step out on the balcony and deliver his "Apostolic Blessing to the World."
And with that he will begin a new era -- one that promises to be one of the most tumultuous times in all of history.
[see also: On papal suffering and God's power and Photo of John Paul at hospital Mass]
[resources: The Last Secret]
