Electing a New Pope and Remembering Francis
Among the billions of people mourning the death of Pope Francis at the conclusion of his remarkable papacy are the cardinals who will participate in the funeral liturgies for the late pope, a series of general congregations, and, ultimately, the conclave that will select his successor as the bishop of Rome.
The local church of Rome, since the first century, has maintained a pride of place and the center of the local churches’ communion with one another due its association with the martyrdoms of the apostles St. Peter and St. Paul. Thus, within the college of bishops, the bishop of Rome acts as its head, as the center of its communion, and as a first among equals. Granted the role of the church of Rome and its bishop has developed, sometimes expanding and other times contracting, throughout church history. Today, the bishop of Rome is charged with a particular ministry to preside over the universal church in charity, not as a dictatorial monarch but, as Pope Francis was fond of saying, as a shepherd with the smell of the sheep.
Pope Francis recalled this ancient understanding of the papal office when he greeted the crowds in St. Peter’s Square on March 13, 2013, the night of his election, saying, “You know that it was the duty of the conclave to give Rome a bishop. It seems that my brother cardinals have gone to the ends of the earth to get one.” As today’s cardinal electors travel from across the globe, they will gather to do this again: to give Rome a bishop, who should act as a shepherd marked by the smell of the sheep while he presides over the communion of the church in love and service.
Pope Francis’ funeral will be celebrated at St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on Saturday and he will be buried at the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. The presider of the funeral will be Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals.
The shape and membership of the College of Cardinals has developed dramatically in the history of the Catholic Church. Originally drawn from the deacons and priests of the local church of Rome in the early medieval period as an advisory body to the pope, it became the body responsible for electing the bishop of Rome by the beginning of the second millennium. Today, only those cardinals who are younger than 80 years old at the time of the death or resignation of the bishop of Rome are eligible to serve as cardinal electors in the subsequent conclave.
Cardinal Re will formally invite the College of Cardinals to gather and participate in a series of meetings held at the Vatican following the funeral of Pope Francis. All 252 living cardinals, regardless of age and eligibility to vote in the conclave, will be invited to participate. The cardinals will discuss the needs of the world and church and speak of the qualities they hope to see in the next bishop of Rome.
The cardinals will also choose the date on which the conclave will begin. It is mandated by church law that the conclave begin between 15 and 20 days after the death or resignation of the pope. However, it may begin sooner, as it did in 2013, if all voting cardinal electors are present.
The day before the conclave begins, the cardinal electors move into Casa Santa Marthae, a guest house within the walls of Vatican City, in order to maintain secrecy. Leading up to the conclave, the Sistine Chapel is continually swept for recording and communication devices. Signal jammers are deployed to prevent any leaks from inside the walls of the chapel. Anyone assisting in the conclave or working at Casa Santa Marthae is sworn to secrecy.
The morning that the conclave begins, the cardinals participate in The Mass for the Election of the Roman Pontiff. Following lunch, the cardinal electors process to the Sistine Chapel from Casa Santa Marthae, chanting the Litany of Saints. Through this shared prayer they ask for the saints’ intercession, recall the saints’ witness to discipleship, and ritualize the accompaniment of the entire communion of saints—all the baptized past, present, and future—with the cardinals in their forthcoming discernment for the sake of the church and world. The cardinals also sing Veni Creator Spiritus attuning themselves to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
After entering the Sistine Chapel, each cardinal elector takes an oath of secrecy and together they listen to a final sermon before the start of the conclave. The master of papal liturgical celebrations then declares, “Extra omnes!” The command—everyone out—directs anyone not taking part in the conclave to leave and the doors are shut behind them.
With the 91-year-old Cardinal Re and his vice dean, the 81-year-old Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, ineligible to serve as cardinal electors due to age, the senior cardinal bishop eligible to vote in the conclave, currently the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, takes on the presidential role within the Sistine Chapel.
Whenever a round of voting is held, each cardinal elector comes forward, takes an oath, and casts his hand-written ballot on the altar of the Sistine Chapel. After all cardinal electors have voted, three scrutineers and three revisers count the votes and read the name cast on each ballot aloud.
Traditionally, to be elected bishop of Rome, a candidate must receive at least two-thirds of the vote. If 134 cardinal electors participate this year, a candidate must receive at least 90 votes in any given round of voting. Under current church law, if no candidate receives two-thirds of the vote after the 33 rounds of voting, the cardinal electors may vote by a simple majority to suspend the two-thirds requirement and lower the threshold to be elected to a simple majority (for 2025, 68 votes).
After the first day, two rounds of votes are held each morning and each afternoon. Until someone is elected, the ballots from unsuccessful rounds of voting are burned at the end of morning and afternoon gathering with wet straw to produce black smoke that rises from a chimney installed atop the Sistine Chapel. The black smoke signals to the city of Rome and the world that a new pope has not been chosen. Today, the cardinals use chemicals to ensure that the smoke does indeed appear black.
Upon a candidate receiving the requisite number of votes, the dean of the college of cardinals—or this year, the senior cardinal bishop, Cardinal Parolin—asks the chosen candidate if he accepts his election. If he does the dean or his designate asks the new pope by what name he wishes to be known. The newly elected pope my chose to be known by his given birth or baptismal name (as did most bishops of Rome in the first millennium), a name used by one or more of his predecessors, or any other name.
He is then presented to and greeted by the cardinal electors as the ballots are burned with dry straw and chemicals to produce white smoke that billows out of the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel. The new bishop of Rome then proceeds to the so-called Room of Tears, where he dresses in the white papal cassock.
After the white smoke has signaled to the city and world the election of a new pope, the senior cardinal deacon, currently Cardinal Dominique Mamberti, announces from a balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square, “Habemus papam!” With the declaration, “we have a pope,” he proceeds to share the name of the cardinal elected and the name he has chosen to take as pope. After a brief time, the new bishop of Rome then greets the crowds from the city of Rome and the world before offering his first urbi et orbi (to the city [of Rome] and the world).
In this first appearance as pope, the new bishop of Rome may very well give a small preview of how he intends to exercise his ministry. Pope Francis did so in several ways. Indicating that his papacy would be marked by simplicity and humility, he shunned many of the more ornate vestments associates with a pope’s first appearance. Instead, he greeted the people in the square in a plain white cassock with a simple pectoral cross, wearing the well-trod black shoes that smelled of the flock he pastored in Buenos Aires, Argentina. More significantly, though, before blessing the people, he asked that they bless them. This simple gesture recalled the ancient practice of the people of a city giving their consent to the election of their bishop and offered a foretaste of Francis synodal vision of the church—a church where pastors and their flocks are constantly in dialogue with one another, discerning together how to respond to the needs of the world in the light of the Gospel.
Pope Francis’ 12-year ministry as pope will be remembered and celebrated for many reasons: his tireless advocacy for those persons and communities marginalized and abandoned by the rest of society; his commitment to the dignity of and care for our fellow creatures and the Earth that is our common home; his prophetic voice and writings; the steps he took to make the Catholic Church a synodal church that discerns how to walk together as people of God, responding to the challenges of our world by working toward justice; and his efforts at church reform chief among them. But he will hopefully also be remembered for his unwavering commitment to the teachings and spirit of the Second Vatican, including in the way he exercised his office as a Bishop of Rome whose simple white cassock and well-worn black shoes smelled of his sheep.
Bishop of Rome and the College of Bishops
In its documents, the Second Vatican Council (an ecumenical council that met from 1962-1965) recalled the ancient conviction that the pope exercises a ministry of care for and oversight of the universal church only because he serves, first, as the bishop of Rome. The universal church is constituted as a communion of local churches (commonly called dioceses and archdioceses). Each diocese is served by a local bishop, who exercises a ministry of oversight within that church. Bishops, however, do not have a responsibility only for their respective local churches. Together, as the college of bishops, they symbolize the communion shared by their local churches. And, with their head, the bishop of Rome, they exercise a ministry of care for and oversight of the universal church.The local church of Rome, since the first century, has maintained a pride of place and the center of the local churches’ communion with one another due its association with the martyrdoms of the apostles St. Peter and St. Paul. Thus, within the college of bishops, the bishop of Rome acts as its head, as the center of its communion, and as a first among equals. Granted the role of the church of Rome and its bishop has developed, sometimes expanding and other times contracting, throughout church history. Today, the bishop of Rome is charged with a particular ministry to preside over the universal church in charity, not as a dictatorial monarch but, as Pope Francis was fond of saying, as a shepherd with the smell of the sheep.
Pope Francis recalled this ancient understanding of the papal office when he greeted the crowds in St. Peter’s Square on March 13, 2013, the night of his election, saying, “You know that it was the duty of the conclave to give Rome a bishop. It seems that my brother cardinals have gone to the ends of the earth to get one.” As today’s cardinal electors travel from across the globe, they will gather to do this again: to give Rome a bishop, who should act as a shepherd marked by the smell of the sheep while he presides over the communion of the church in love and service.
Sede Vacante and the College of Cardinals
The current period without a pope is officially called sede vacante because the seat of the bishop of Rome is empty. In this time, the daily management of the Vatican and preparations for the conclave are carried out by the camerlengo, Cardinal Kevin Farrell.Pope Francis’ funeral will be celebrated at St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on Saturday and he will be buried at the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. The presider of the funeral will be Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals.
The shape and membership of the College of Cardinals has developed dramatically in the history of the Catholic Church. Originally drawn from the deacons and priests of the local church of Rome in the early medieval period as an advisory body to the pope, it became the body responsible for electing the bishop of Rome by the beginning of the second millennium. Today, only those cardinals who are younger than 80 years old at the time of the death or resignation of the bishop of Rome are eligible to serve as cardinal electors in the subsequent conclave.
Cardinal Re will formally invite the College of Cardinals to gather and participate in a series of meetings held at the Vatican following the funeral of Pope Francis. All 252 living cardinals, regardless of age and eligibility to vote in the conclave, will be invited to participate. The cardinals will discuss the needs of the world and church and speak of the qualities they hope to see in the next bishop of Rome.
The cardinals will also choose the date on which the conclave will begin. It is mandated by church law that the conclave begin between 15 and 20 days after the death or resignation of the pope. However, it may begin sooner, as it did in 2013, if all voting cardinal electors are present.
The Conclave
There are currently 135 cardinal electors, though one has already announced that he is unable to participate due to poor health. Among the cardinal electors participating will be a Gonzaga University alumnus, Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.J., of Canada.The day before the conclave begins, the cardinal electors move into Casa Santa Marthae, a guest house within the walls of Vatican City, in order to maintain secrecy. Leading up to the conclave, the Sistine Chapel is continually swept for recording and communication devices. Signal jammers are deployed to prevent any leaks from inside the walls of the chapel. Anyone assisting in the conclave or working at Casa Santa Marthae is sworn to secrecy.
The morning that the conclave begins, the cardinals participate in The Mass for the Election of the Roman Pontiff. Following lunch, the cardinal electors process to the Sistine Chapel from Casa Santa Marthae, chanting the Litany of Saints. Through this shared prayer they ask for the saints’ intercession, recall the saints’ witness to discipleship, and ritualize the accompaniment of the entire communion of saints—all the baptized past, present, and future—with the cardinals in their forthcoming discernment for the sake of the church and world. The cardinals also sing Veni Creator Spiritus attuning themselves to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
After entering the Sistine Chapel, each cardinal elector takes an oath of secrecy and together they listen to a final sermon before the start of the conclave. The master of papal liturgical celebrations then declares, “Extra omnes!” The command—everyone out—directs anyone not taking part in the conclave to leave and the doors are shut behind them.
With the 91-year-old Cardinal Re and his vice dean, the 81-year-old Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, ineligible to serve as cardinal electors due to age, the senior cardinal bishop eligible to vote in the conclave, currently the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, takes on the presidential role within the Sistine Chapel.
Whenever a round of voting is held, each cardinal elector comes forward, takes an oath, and casts his hand-written ballot on the altar of the Sistine Chapel. After all cardinal electors have voted, three scrutineers and three revisers count the votes and read the name cast on each ballot aloud.
Traditionally, to be elected bishop of Rome, a candidate must receive at least two-thirds of the vote. If 134 cardinal electors participate this year, a candidate must receive at least 90 votes in any given round of voting. Under current church law, if no candidate receives two-thirds of the vote after the 33 rounds of voting, the cardinal electors may vote by a simple majority to suspend the two-thirds requirement and lower the threshold to be elected to a simple majority (for 2025, 68 votes).
After the first day, two rounds of votes are held each morning and each afternoon. Until someone is elected, the ballots from unsuccessful rounds of voting are burned at the end of morning and afternoon gathering with wet straw to produce black smoke that rises from a chimney installed atop the Sistine Chapel. The black smoke signals to the city of Rome and the world that a new pope has not been chosen. Today, the cardinals use chemicals to ensure that the smoke does indeed appear black.
Upon a candidate receiving the requisite number of votes, the dean of the college of cardinals—or this year, the senior cardinal bishop, Cardinal Parolin—asks the chosen candidate if he accepts his election. If he does the dean or his designate asks the new pope by what name he wishes to be known. The newly elected pope my chose to be known by his given birth or baptismal name (as did most bishops of Rome in the first millennium), a name used by one or more of his predecessors, or any other name.
He is then presented to and greeted by the cardinal electors as the ballots are burned with dry straw and chemicals to produce white smoke that billows out of the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel. The new bishop of Rome then proceeds to the so-called Room of Tears, where he dresses in the white papal cassock.
After the white smoke has signaled to the city and world the election of a new pope, the senior cardinal deacon, currently Cardinal Dominique Mamberti, announces from a balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square, “Habemus papam!” With the declaration, “we have a pope,” he proceeds to share the name of the cardinal elected and the name he has chosen to take as pope. After a brief time, the new bishop of Rome then greets the crowds from the city of Rome and the world before offering his first urbi et orbi (to the city [of Rome] and the world).
In this first appearance as pope, the new bishop of Rome may very well give a small preview of how he intends to exercise his ministry. Pope Francis did so in several ways. Indicating that his papacy would be marked by simplicity and humility, he shunned many of the more ornate vestments associates with a pope’s first appearance. Instead, he greeted the people in the square in a plain white cassock with a simple pectoral cross, wearing the well-trod black shoes that smelled of the flock he pastored in Buenos Aires, Argentina. More significantly, though, before blessing the people, he asked that they bless them. This simple gesture recalled the ancient practice of the people of a city giving their consent to the election of their bishop and offered a foretaste of Francis synodal vision of the church—a church where pastors and their flocks are constantly in dialogue with one another, discerning together how to respond to the needs of the world in the light of the Gospel.
Pope Francis’ 12-year ministry as pope will be remembered and celebrated for many reasons: his tireless advocacy for those persons and communities marginalized and abandoned by the rest of society; his commitment to the dignity of and care for our fellow creatures and the Earth that is our common home; his prophetic voice and writings; the steps he took to make the Catholic Church a synodal church that discerns how to walk together as people of God, responding to the challenges of our world by working toward justice; and his efforts at church reform chief among them. But he will hopefully also be remembered for his unwavering commitment to the teachings and spirit of the Second Vatican, including in the way he exercised his office as a Bishop of Rome whose simple white cassock and well-worn black shoes smelled of his sheep.
Learn about the 2022 trip to Rome by Gonzaga's Trustees, including a special meeting for then-Board Chair Christy Larsen