What is a conclave? How will next pope be chosen and the challenges ahead

EXPLAINER

As the formal mourning period for Pope Francis has ended, attention now shifts to the papal conclave in Vatican City, where powerful members of the Catholic Church are converging to elect the next pontiff.

At a ceremony of spiritual, political, and global significance, Cardinals from all over the world will elect the 267th pope, the leader of the 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide. After serving for 12 years in the papacy, Francis passed away on April 21 at the age of 88.

The conclave, which will kick off on Wednesday, will be held behind the closed doors of the Sistine Chapel. It lasts typically for several days and, occasionally, for weeks.

What we know is as follows:

What is a papal conclave?

• Conclave is a term that derives from the Latin word “con clavis,” which means “with a key,” and is a reference to the custom of keeping the cardinals locked up until a new pope is elected.
• A papal conclave is a solemn, secret election of the College of Cardinals in the Roman Catholic Church.
• Known as the “princes of the church”, the cardinals follow an intricate and centuries-old process rooted in the Middle Ages.
• Although the customs have changed, Pope John Paul II’s 1996 apostolic constitution, Universi Dominici Gregis, and subsequent modifications by Pope Benedict XVI, form the foundation of the current procedures.
• Despite being under the age of 80, all cardinals are able to attend the meetings. There are currently 135 eligible voters.

A pope is what?

• The pope is regarded as the first leader of the early Christian church and the follower of St. Peter, the head of Jesus’ apostles.
• As such, the pope holds supreme authority over the worldwide Catholic Church in matters of faith, morals, governance and discipline.
• 252 cardinals support the pope, who is the spiritual leader of Catholics all over the world.
• The pope is undeniably a powerful global figure, according to Father Francis Lucas, a Catholic priest and executive director of the Catholic Media Network, while Pope Francis stressed that Jesus Christ possesses real power and that he is merely a disciple.
• The pope typically presides over major church celebrations held at St Peter’s Basilica throughout the year. At least once every five years, he is expected to meet with more than 5, 000 bishops from all over the world. He is also in charge of overseeing and administering the Vatican in his capacity as the bishop of Rome.

When will the conclave start?

• The Apostolic Palace, or Papal Palace, at the Vatican, is where the papal conclave is scheduled to take place on Wednesday.
• This comes in addition to Francis’ customary nine-day mourning period.

What happens on the first day of the conclave?

Mass at 10:00 AM (08:00 GMT) to elect a pope

• The day’s opening mass is “Pro Eligendo Pontifice,” a public ceremony led by the College of Cardinals dean, in St. Peter’s Basilica.
• It’s a solemn liturgy asking the Holy Spirit to guide the church in selecting a new pope.

Procession into the Sistine Chapel at 4:30 p.m. (14:30 GMT).

• The 135 cardinal electors chant the Litany of the Saints in the Pauline Chapel near the Sistine Chapel in the afternoon.
• “This is an ancient prayer of the Catholic Church that names the saints in a sort of a roll call, one by one by one”, said Steven P Millies, professor of public theology at the Catholic Theological Union, a Catholic graduate school of theology in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States.
• St. Peter, please pray for us. “St. James, pray for us,” Millies said, “seeing the intercession of all the holy men and women who have come before us for the success of the conclave.”
• They then chant Veni Creator Spiritus and process into the Sistine Chapel.
• The Holy Spirit, fully God as well as the Father and the Son, but the Spirit who guides the church, is also a prayer, Millies said.

Locking the conclave is “Extra Omnes”:

• After taking an oath of secrecy, the phrase “Extra omnes”! (“Everyone out”) The chapel is sealed, and the declaration is made. Only the electors and essential staff remain, cut off from the outside world.

First vote

• The cardinals have the option of casting just one ballot in the first day.

Return to residence

• They return to their secured Vatican residence, the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where they spend the rest of the conclave in solitude.
• Millies claimed that “this is a little different from what it was in the past.”
• “In the old days, what they did was they converted the salons of the Apostolic Palace with very uncomfortable cots and pitchers of water. They built this hotel because it was very uncomfortable for a room full of very old men to have to sleep in such conditions, he continued.

What is the procedure for voting?

• Voting after the first day occurs a maximum of four times: twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon.
• Each cardinal chooses a candidate on the ballot that reads “Eligo in Summum Pontificem” (“I elect as Supreme Pontiff”) and writes in their name.
• Before Michelangelo’s Last Judgement, they take the oath and place their votes in a chalice.

• Voting is suspended on the fifth day to allow for prayer, quiet reflection, and informal discussions if a pope is not chosen within the first four days of the conclave.
• A pope must be chosen with a two-thirds majority. If no one reaches that threshold, another vote is held. Votes are burned after each round.
• No pope has been chosen, as evidenced by the black smoke coming from a chimney above the Sistine Chapel. White smoke signals the Catholic Church has a new pontiff.
• A mixture of potassium perchlorate, anthracene, and sulphur produces white smoke, while potassium chlorate, lactose, and a conifer resin known as rosin are combined to create the latter.
• By the end of the second day of voting, the last two conclaves, held in 2005 and 2013, had come to an end.

What challenges does the conclave face?

• During his papacy, Francis significantly altered the College of Cardinals, focusing on pastoral issues and global representation. That presents its own set of difficulties.
• “]The Catholic Church] is a church that has to understand how to be one church globally which is united on fundamental things but has to do things differently in different contexts”, said Massimo Faggioli, a professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Villanova University.
• Because there is one canon law for every church, whether it be in Alaska or Indonesia, making that the most challenging aspect of Catholicism, he continued.

• According to experts, each cardinal brings a distinct vision. Global South cardinals may seek a pope who supports interfaith dialogue while those from the Global South are likely to prioritize globalization and poverty.
• According to Mills, “I believe what Francis was doing very intentionally was inviting those various concerns from various places to engage in dialogue.”
• “And one thing, I think, that was very much on his mind was the church in parts of the world where Catholicism is a minority – where there are Muslim majorities or other majorities too. He made these decisions, he said, considering the Catholics’ experiences there, and I believe that was very important to him when he made those choices.

What are the church’s principal difficulties?

• The Catholic Church today faces multiple challenges. In addition to declining attendance, growing secularism, and rising numbers of people who claim to be religiously unaffiliated, there are some other factors.
• According to The Washington Post, which cited the Vatican in reporting, “The Holy See is receiving a steady 800 cases per year from places like Poland, Italy, Latin America, and Asia,” trust is still being eroded by widespread sexual abuse scandals.
• Internally, tensions between modernising reforms (on issues like LGBTQ+ rights and women’s roles) and traditionalist values are growing.
• However, creating a global church is regarded as one of the biggest challenges, according to experts.
• According to Mills, “the Roman Catholic Church of the 21st century is getting to know what it means to be a global church.”
• “And what it means to be a global church in the end is that the archbishop of New York City is every bit as much a Roman Catholic as the poor baptised worker in East Timor”, he added.

What transpires following the election of the pope?

• He first accepts the position and chooses a papal name that best captures his vision or inspiration after being elected. The previous pope, whose real name was Jorge Mario Bergoglio, chose Francis as his papal name to honor St Francis of Assisi.
• The “Room of Tears” then transforms the new pope into white papal vestments. The Room of Tears is reportedly named because many newly elected popes experience emotional shock as they first put on a white cassock and grasp the magnitude of their new responsibilities.
• Shortly after, the senior cardinal announces “Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum, HabemusPapam”! () “I tell you that we have a pope! The new pope issues his first official blessing from St. Peter’s Basilica balcony.
• ” The installation of the new pope will complete that cycle of events. Then, according to Mills, we will begin looking into the appointments that a new pope will make within the Vatican administration.
• What new appointments does the pope make, who sacks, and who stays. That will be very interesting to watch, as will the statements the new pope gives, “he added.