Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Pope Francis was elected pope on the 13th March at the age of 76, after serving the church for 51 years. Was it these moral values that got Pope Francis elected? Or an old-age system that has been in place for years?
This article seeks to divulge just how the pope is chosen and what factors are considered in the process. To understand that however, we must first understand a little bit about the role of the Pope. They are the head of the Vatican city, which is a separate state from Rome. During its first centuries of existence, the Catholic Church and the papacy were closely tied to Roman politics.
He is famous for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome to covert the then pagan Anglo-Saxons in England to Christianity. Some may be shocked to know that throughout history popes have lead armies, levied taxes and commanded kings and queens. Pope John Paul II largely influenced this world-view of the Pope, as he embraced his role as a spiritual leader and elevated the papacy into a position of considerable global influence. For the most part, prior to his tenure, popes conducted their affairs largely within Rome.
As the most travelled Pope in history, Pope John helped propel the papacy onto the international stage. Upon his death two years later, angry crowds demanded an Italian successor rather than a French one who might head back to Avignon. But when the new pope proved overly confrontational, calling one cardinal a half-wit and coming to blows with another, the cardinals declared the election invalid.
They held a second conclave five months after the first one, deciding this time around on Clement VII. The two popes, one in Avignon and one in Rome, both claimed to be the true leader of the church, going so far as to excommunicate each other.
A council held in Pisa in sought to bridge the divide, but it only succeeded in adding a third pope to the mix. Finally, at the Council of Constance in what is now Germany, all three popes either resigned or were deposed. The Western Schism, as this fiasco became known, ended with the election of Martin V in Since the end of the Western Schism, the conclave has taken place in Rome every time but once.
The exception occurred in following the death of Pius VI, who had been taken prisoner during the French Revolution and exiled to France. Getting to the conclave used to be especially hard for American cardinals. Later U. There are only two requirements for becoming pope: being male and being baptized into the Catholic Church. Four rounds of balloting are taken every day until a candidate receives two-thirds of the vote.
In the past, 15 to 20 days after a papal vacancy, the cardinals gathered in St. Peter's Basilica for a Mass invoking the guidance of the Holy Spirit in electing a new pope. Only cardinals under the age of 80 are eligible to vote in a conclave. They are known as the cardinal electors, and their number is limited to For the conclave itself, the cardinal electors process to the Sistine Chapel and take an oath of absolute secrecy before sealing the doors.
The cardinals vote by secret ballot, processing one by one up to Michelangelo's fresco of the Last Judgment, saying a prayer and dropping the twice-folded ballot in a large chalice. The result of each ballot are counted aloud and recorded by three cardinals designated as recorders.
If no one receives the necessary two-thirds of the vote, the ballots are burned in a stove near the chapel with a mixture of chemicals to produce black smoke.
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