ELECTION OF A POPE

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 2385, 28 January 1922, Page 4

ELECTION OF A POPE

METHOD OF PROCEDURE. VOTING BY CARDINALS. THE SECRET CONCLAVE. The election of a Pope is regulated partly by ancient traditional usage, partly by decrees of some General Councils of the Church, partly by laws and constitutions of the Popes themselves. In ancient times tjie people of Roipe as well as the clergy had .a voice in the election of their bishop, ty\hp happened to be also the "Head of (hfi Church throughout the world. The clergy of Rome chose the Pope in the presence of the people, But this practice had finite disappeared at the election of Pope Ce.lestine 11: in the 12th century, and in 117# the right of choosing a Pope was restricted by the Third General Council of the Later.an In the cardinals only.

The Conclave proper, that is, the meeting of the cardinals in secret, was called into existence by Gregory X. in 127-1, in order that the cardinals when assembled together should he secluded from all intercourse with the outside world, .and so be free to do their important work. It has been the rule since that time that the Pope must be elected in Conclave, and by »ocret ballot ,the votes of two-thirds of the cardinals actually present in the Conclave being- requisite for a valid election. The chosen one need not be a cardinal, though since the time of Urban VI. (13/8) no one but a cardinal has been elected. It is possible to have an election by acclamation, and also by quasi-inspira-tion. The former lias.happened fre-

quently, while the latter, which has never actually occurred, would come to pass if all the assembled cardinals without a single exception, agreed to entrust to a few chosen out of their number the power of choosing a Pope. Anyone may be chosen —prince, noble, labourer, peasant. The only Englishman who was ever a Pope, Adrian IV. (12th century), was born at Abbot's Langley, Hertfordshire. His father, Robert Brekspear, was a man of humble means, though of decent stock, and the young lad went abroad as a poor wandering scholar. Pius X. was of peasant stock, and was chosen in preference to several cardinals who were princes of the land and inheritors of great family wealth. After nine days’ mourning for the dead Pope, the cardinals are shut up in the Pope’s palace, at present the Vatican, each one bringing with him only one servant. Communication with the outside world is completely cut off; no one is allowed into their part of the palace, and no one is allowed out. No one is allowed to speak privately with them, and no one, under pain of excommunication, is allowed to send messages or writings to (lie cardinals or officials. No cardinal outside can vote, but one who arrives late is admitted. The electors are strictly bidden to make their choice a matter of conscience, to lay aside all private affections, and to act solely in the interest of the Church. The voting may take place on any day of the Conclave, and may also be taken twice on the same day, after Mass in the morning and in the afternoon. The most complete secrecy prevails in the taking of the votes. The voting papers are sealed up, so that nothing can be read on the outside save the name of the cardinal nominated; each cardinal places his voting paper in a large chalice. The papers are then taken out by three cardinals, chosen by lot lor that duty by the junior cardinals. Before depositing his paper, each elector kneels before the altar and repeats aloud the following oat Ik “I call Christ, our Lord God to witness, Who will judge me, that 1 will choose him who I consider ought to be elected in the sight of God.” The elaborate arrangements for (lie Conclave are laid down by law. The Camerlengo of the College of Cardinals takes charge, the ofiiec of the Secretary of State, the highest in the official world, ceasing at the death of the Pope. Political interference by secular slates, whether direct or indirect, before or during the Conclave, is forbidden. After each voting the papers are ’burnt and the crowds in the Square of St. Peter's wait for the smoke to

appear from the crooked, thin, black pipe that runs up the end wall of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican Palace. If the tiny puff is black, there will be another election; if it is white, the 50 or 60 thousand spectators will be guessing at the name of the 235th successor of Peter, announced bv the senior cardinal deacon from the balcony of St. Peters. There will be many speculations about the new Pope, but the unexpected generally happens. .AN hen Benedict XV. was chosen, an old peasant, who had known him as a boy, declared he had expected it all along. His reason was ingenious: “The newspapers never mentioned him; their silence was a good omen.”