Farewell and Rest In Peace to His Holiness Pope Francis, who died on 21st April 2025. The task now must be to find a successor. But how is it done? Blue Guide Rome (12th edition) describes the process as follows:
Popes are elected by the cardinals, who comprise the so-called ‘Sacred College’ and who meet in conclave to choose the supreme pontiff. The complicated rules for the conclave (from the Latin con clave, a chamber that can be closed with one key) were laid down in 1274 by Gregory X, though they have been adjusted several times since. The rules were designed to ensure that the election should not be unnecessarily delayed, should not be unduly hurried, should be free from any kind of external pressure. After the death of the pope, all the cardinals are summoned to the conclave, which begins on the tenth day following his decease. The election must be held in whatever city the pope dies.
In 1800 Pius VII was elected in Venice. The cardinals processed to the conclave, where apartments had been specially prepared, separated by wooden partitions. On the first day crowds of people swarmed in and out, but in the evening everyone was compelled to leave (Extra omnes!), except for the cardinals and their authorised servants, the conclavists. All the doors were bricked up except one, which was locked and guarded. After three days, according to Pope Gregory’s rules, the supply of food was restricted, and if a further five days elapsed without an election only bread, water and wine could be sent in.
Voting takes place twice a day. The requisite two-thirds majority is generally obtained fairly quickly, though in 1799 the cardinals took three months to make up their minds. Attempts were often made to influence the result. As recently as 1903, the Imperial government used its veto to exclude the candidature of Cardinal Rampolla, thought to be anti-Austrian; Pius X, elected instead, immediately abolished the right to veto which certain secular powers had possessed. John Paul II altered the rules so that the physical separation of the cardinals is no longer insisted upon: in 2005 they were put up in comparative comfort at the Domus Sanctae Marthae in the Vatican, although the voting sessions still took place in the Sistine Chapel.
A winning candidate must be formally asked by the Cardinal Chamberlain whether he accepts the papacy. Sometimes he is reluctant to do so: the infirm Leo XII, in 1823, pointed to his swollen legs and said ‘Do not insist, you are electing a corpse.’ The practice of burning the ballot papers, so as to indicate by the colour of the smoke whether or not a pope has been chosen, dates from the 20th century.
Once the new pope has accepted and has chosen his regnal name, the Cardinal Chamberlain makes the announcement to the waiting crowds: Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum, habemus papam [I announce to you a great joy, we have a pope] and the new pontiff gives his blessing Urbi et orbi, to the City and to the world.
