Vatican City (AsiaNews) - As Mgr Guido Marini, master of papal liturgical ceremonies, said 'Extra omnes' and the door to the Sistine Chapel closed at 5.31 (CET), the 75th conclave in the history of the Church began. It will end with the election of the 265th successor of Saint Peter. Before Mgr Marini ordered everyone not authorised to leave, the 115 cardinal electors swore an oath to secrecy, and listened to a meditation. After that, they proceeded to the first ballot.
The cardinals entered the Sistine Chapel walking behind the choir and a number of prelates, most notably the secretary of the College of Cardinals as well as the prelate who directed the meditation to the cardinal electors, Mgr Prosper Grech. The two were followed by the cardinals in order of precedence with the first entering last, namely the Cardinal Re, who is the senior member in the Order of Bishops as well as the celebrant in the procession and responsible for taking the oaths in the Chapel.
During the procession, the cardinals sang the Litany of Saints, ending with the hymn 'Veni Creator Spiritus'. Once inside the Sistine Chapel, they took their seat and swore the oath of secrecy. The Cardinal Re began with the following formula in Latin:
"We, the Cardinal electors present in this election of the Supreme Pontiff promise, pledge and swear, as individuals and as a group, to observe faithfully and scrupulously the prescriptions contained in the Apostolic Constitution of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II, 'Universi Dominici Gregis', published on 22 February 1996. We likewise promise, pledge and swear that whichever of us by divine disposition is elected Roman Pontiff will commit himself faithfully to carrying out the 'munus Petrinum' of Pastor of the Universal Church and will not fail to affirm and defend strenuously the spiritual and temporal rights and the liberty of the Holy See. In a particular way, we promise and swear to observe with the greatest fidelity and with all persons, clerical or lay, secrecy regarding everything that in any way relates to the election of the Roman Pontiff and regarding what occurs in the place of the election, directly or indirectly related to the results of the voting; we promise and swear not to break this secret in any way, either during or after the election of the new Pontiff, unless explicit authorization is granted by the same Pontiff; and never to lend support or favour to any interference, opposition or any other form of intervention, whereby secular authorities of whatever order and degree or any group of people or individuals might wish to intervene in the election of the Roman Pontiff."
Each Cardinal elector then went to the middle of the Sistine Chapel to take their oath individually, their right hand placed on the Book of Gospels, lying open on a lectern.
Afterwards, everyone left the Sistine Chapel, except for Card Grech and the Master of Ceremonies who left after the meditation was given.
Thus began the 75th conclave in the history of the Church with cardinal electors from every continent: 60 from Europe, 33 from the Americas, 11 from Africa, 10 from Asia and one from Oceania. The country with the most cardinals is Italy (28), followed by the United States (11), Germany (6), and Brazil, Spain and India (5).
The conclave as we know it, with cardinals locked up "com clave", was established in 1274 by Pope Gregory X in his bull 'Ubi periculum'. The current one is the 51st held in the Vatican, the 24th in the Sistine Chapel, which was built in 1481 and painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512. Ten conclaves were held in the Pauline Chapel. Other conclaves were held in the Apostolic Palace and the Quirinal Palace. On 15 occasions, the election of a pope was held outside of Rome, in Arezzo, Viterbo, Perugia as well Venice.
The longest conclave in modern history was that of Benedict XIV. It lasted 181 days, from 18 February to 17 August1740. The shortest one was that of Pius XII, on 1-2 March 1939 after only three votes. Since then, conclaves have been short. John XXII was elected after four days and 11 ballots; Paul VII after three days and six ballots; John Paul I after two days and four ballots, John Paul II after three days and eight ballots and Benedict XVI after two days and four ballots.
Once the door to the Sistine Chapel is sealed, the cardinals will be able to cast their first ballot although in theory, they could do it tomorrow because they must first choose by lot three cardinals to act as scrutineers, three cardinals to collect the votes of sick cardinals and three revisers.
To vote, cardinals will use a ballot paper that is "rectangular in shape and must bear in the upper half, in print if possible, the words Eligo in Summum Pontificem; on the lower half there must be a space left for writing the name of the person chosen; thus the ballot is made in such a way that it can be folded in two; 2) the completion of the ballot must be done in secret by each Cardinal elector, who will write down legibly, as far as possible in handwriting that cannot be identified as his, the name of the person he chooses".
The elector, after "having completed and folded his ballot, holds it up so that it can be seen and carries it to the altar, at which the Scrutineers stand and upon which there is placed a receptacle, covered by a plate, for receiving the ballots."
"Having reached the altar, the Cardinal elector says aloud the words of the following oath: I call as my witness Christ the Lord who will be my judge, that my vote is given to the one who before God I think should be elected. He then places the ballot on the plate, with which he drops it into the receptacle. Having done this, he bows to the altar and returns to his place."
As the last scrutineer reads out the individual ballots, he pierces each one with a needle through the word Eligo and places it on a thread, so that the ballots can be more securely preserved. After the names have been read out, the ends of the thread are tied in a knot.
Once the vote is over, all the ballots are burnt along with "any notes which" the cardinals "may have in" their "possession concerning the results of each ballot." The smoke this causes is the fumata. In the past, wet or dry straw was used to colour it; now, some chemical compounds are used. At the end of voting, the cardinal camerlengo writes a report "placed in a sealed envelope" that only a pope can open.
Except for today, there will be four votes at day, two in the morning and two in the afternoon. At 12 noon and 7 pm, the ballots will be burnt in two different stoves, one for the ballots and one for the coloured white or black fumata to signal a positive or negative outcome to the election.
If a pope is elected during the first ballot of the morning or the afternoon, the white fumata will be moved up to 10.30-11 am and 17.30-18 pm.
To be elected, the new pope needs two thirds of the votes, i.e. 77 votes out of 115.
According to the Universi Dominici gregis, only one ballot is held on the first day. Four ballots will be held each on the following three days. If by late Thursday, after 12 or 13 ballots, there is no majority, a break of no more than 24 hours will follow filled with prayers, free exchanges among the cardinals as well as a spiritual exhortation by the Cardinal Proto-Deacon Jean-Louis Tauran.
If it proves necessary, another pause for prayer and reflection will come after every seven ballots, up to 21 ballots. If, on the ninth day after 33-34 ballots, there is still no positive outcome, then the cardinals will choose between the two cardinals with the most votes. The latter however will not be able to vote themselves. In this case as well, the required qualified majority will be necessary.
Once a pope is elected, he has to accept and choose a name. Only at this point, will there be a white fumata. Next, Cardinal Proto-Deacon Tauran will announce 'Habemus papam', "We have a pope", from the Loggia of the Blessings of Saint Peter's Basilica, before the new pontiff appears wearing his papal vestments as the Vicar of Christ. (FP)