ELECTION OF A POPE.

Taranaki Daily News, 28 January 1922, Page 12

ELECTION OF A POPE.

METHOD OF PROCEDURE. VOTING BY CARDINALS.

The election of a Rope lis .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 the people of Rome as well as the clergy had a voice in tKe election of their bishop, who happened to be also the- Head of the Cliurch throughout the world. The clergy of Rome chose the Pope in the presence of the people. But this practice had quite disappeared at the election of Pope Celestine IL in the 12lth century, and in 1179 the right of choosing a Pope was restricted by the Third General Council of the Lateran to the cardinals only.

The Conclave proper, that is, the meeting of the cardinals in secret, was called into existence l)y Gregory X. in 1274, in order that the cardinals when assembled together should be 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 C jiclave, and by secret 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. (1378) no one but a cardinal has been elected. It is possible to have an election by acclamation, and also by quasi-inspiration. The former has happened frequently, 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 emosen —prince, noble, laborer, 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 younglad went abroad as a poor wandering scholar. Pius X. was of 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 the 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 sc-lely 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 for that duty by the junior cardinals. Before depositing his paper each elector kneels before the altar and repeats aloud the following oath: “I call Christ, our Lord God to witness. Who will judge me, that I will choose him whom I consider ought to be elected in the sight of God.”

The elaborate arrangements for the Conclave are laid down by law. The camerlengo of the College of Cardinals takes charge, the office of the Secretary of State, flip highest in the official world, ceasing at the death of the. Pope. Political intereference by secular states, whether direct or indirect, before or during the Conclave, is fobidden. 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 croaked, 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 by the senior cardinal deflcqnMrom. the balcony of St. Peter’s. There will be many speculations about the new Pope, hut the unexpected generally happens. When Benedict XV. was chosen an bld peasant, who had Inown him as a hoy, declared he had expected it all along. His reason was ingenious: “The newspapers never mentioned him.; their silence was a good omen.’’