Question:
Answer:
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 the Pope in the Catholic Church
When a pope dies or resigns, 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. 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.
The Rarity of Papal Resignations
Rare is the case in which a pope resigns. In February 2013, Pope Benedict XVI was the first pope in almost six hundred years to resign his office.
If a pope dies—the much more common scenario—there are nine days of mourning, as prescribed in the apostolic constitution that governs the election of a pope, Universi Domenici Gregis (UDG), which Pope St. John Paul issued in 1996 (13b; 27).
The Election Process in a Papal Conclave
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 is required to complete the conclave voting process. In his 2013 motu propio Normas Nonnullas (NN), 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).
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 has selected. Cardinal electors are eligible until they reach eighty years of age to vote for a pope. 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. In the meantime, the new Roman pontiff selects a papal name, and subsequently he is announced to the world with the words “Habemus papam!” (We have a pope!).
For more on what Catholics believe about the pope, and what happens when a pope dies, see our related tract.