Papal conclave

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The 1492 conclave was the first to be held in the Sistine Chapel, the site of all
conclaves since 1878.
A papal conclave is a meeting of the College of Cardinals convened to elect a
Bishop of Rome, also known as the Pope. The pope is considered by Roman Catholics
to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and earthly head of the Roman Catholic
Church.[1]

Concerns around political interference lead to reforms after the interregnum of

12681271 and Pope Gregory X's decree during the Second Council of Lyons in 1274
that the cardinal electors should be locked in seclusion cum clave (Latin for with
a key) and not permitted to leave until a new Bishop of Rome had been elected.[2]
Conclaves are now held in the Sistine Chapel of the Apostolic Palace.[3]

Since the Apostolic Age, the Bishop of Rome, like other bishops, was chosen by the
consensus of the clergy and laity of the diocese.[4] The body of electors was more
precisely defined when, in 1059, the College of Cardinals was designated the sole
body of electors.[5] Since then, other details of the process have developed. In
1970, Pope Paul VI limited the electors to cardinals under 80 years of age (per
Ingravescentem tatem). The current procedures were established by Pope John Paul
II in his apostolic constitution Universi Dominici gregis[3] as amended by motu
proprios of Pope Benedict XVI dated 11 June 2007 and 25 February 2013.[6] A two-
thirds supermajority vote is required to elect the new pope.[7][8]

Contents [hide]
1 Historical development
1.1 Electorate
1.2 Choice of electors and of candidates
1.3 Secular influence
1.4 Conclaves
2 Modern practice
2.1 Death of the pope
2.2 Resignation of a pope
2.3 Before the sealing of the Sistine Chapel
2.4 Expelling the outsiders
2.5 Voting
2.5.1 Pre-scrutiny
2.5.2 Scrutiny
2.5.3 Post-scrutiny
2.5.3.1 Smoke colors
2.6 Acceptance and proclamation
3 Papal documents regarding the conclave
4 See also
5 Notes
6 Direct citations
7 References
Historical development[edit]
Main article Papal selection before 1059
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The procedures relating to the election of the pope have undergone almost two
millennia of development. Procedures similar to the present system were introduced
in 1274 when Gregory X promulgated Ubi periculum following the action of the
magistrates of Viterbo during the interregnum of 12681271.[9]

The process was further refined by Gregory XV with his 1621 bull Aeterni Patris
Filius, which established the requirement of a two-thirds majority of cardinal
electors to elect a pope.[10] The Third Lateran Council had initially set the
requirement that two-thirds of the cardinals were needed to elect a pope in 1179.
[11] This requirement had varied since then, depending on whether the winning
candidate was allowed to vote for himself, in which cases the required majority was
two-thirds plus one vote. Aeterni Patris Filius prohibited this practice and
established two-thirds as the standard needed for election.[12] Aeterni Patris
Filius did not eliminate the possibility of election by acclamation, but did
require that a secret ballot take place first before a pope could be elected.[13]

Electorate[edit]
As early Christian communities emerged, they elected bishops, chosen by the clergy
and laity with the assistance of the bishops of neighbouring dioceses.[4] St.
Cyprian (died 258) says that Pope Cornelius (in office 251-253) was chosen as
Bishop of Rome by the decree of God and of His Church, by the testimony of nearly
all the clergy, by the college of aged bishops [sacerdotum], and of good men.[14]
As in other dioceses, the clergy of the Diocese of Rome was the electoral body for
the Bishop of Rome. Instead of casting votes, the bishop was selected by general
consensus or by acclamation. The candidate would then be submitted to the people
for their general approval or disapproval. This lack of precision in the election
procedures occasionally gave rise to rival popes or antipopes.[15]

The right of the laity to reject the person elected was abolished by a Synod held
in the Lateran in 769, but restored to Roman noblemen by Pope Nicholas I during a
Synod of Rome in 862.[15] The pope was also subjected to oaths of loyalty to the
Holy Roman Emperor, who had the duty of providing security and public peace in
Rome.[16] A major change came in 1059, when Pope Nicholas II decreed in In Nomine
Domini that the cardinals were to elect a candidate, who would take office after
receiving the assent of the clergy and laity. The cardinal bishops were to meet
first and discuss the candidates before summoning the cardinal priests and cardinal
deacons for the actual vote.[14] The Second Council of the Lateran in 1139 removed
the requirement for obtaining the assent of the lower clergy and the laity,[15]
while the Third Council of the Lateran in 1179 gave equal rights to the entire
College of Cardinals when electing a new pope.[17]

Through much of the Middle Ages and Renaissance the Catholic Church had only a
small number of cardinals at any one time, down to as few as seven under either
Pope Alexander IV (1254-1261)[18] or Pope John XXI (1276-1277).[19][20] Difficult
travel further reduced the number arriving at conclaves. With a small electorate an
individual vote was significant, and was not easily shaken from familial or
political lines. Conclaves could last months and even years. In addition to the
decree in 1274 that the electors should be locked in seclusion, Gregory X also
limited each cardinal elector to two servants, and rationed their food
progressively on the fourth and ninth days should they fail to elect a new pope.
[15] The cardinals disliked these strict rules of the conclave; Pope Adrian V
temporarily suspended them in 1276 and John XXI's Licet felicis recordationis
formally revoked them later that same year - both these Popes had intended to
promulgate a new constitution governing papal elections, but died before doing so.
[19][21] Lengthy elections resumed and continued to be the norm until 1294, when a
Benedictine hermit was elected as Pope Celestine V. Celestine reinstated the strict
conclave, but soon resigned the papacy.[22] Long interregna occurred after the
reinstatement of the conclave in 13141316 during the Avignon Papacy, where the
original conclaves were dispersed by besieging mercenaries and not reconvened until
almost two years had passed;[23] and in 14151417, as a result of the Western
Schism.

In 1587 Pope Sixtus V limited the maximum number of cardinals to 70, following the
precedent of Moses who was assisted by 70 elders in governing the Children of
Israel six cardinal bishops, 50 cardinal priests, and 14 cardinal deacons.[18]
Beginning with the attempts of Pope John XXIII (1958-1963) to broaden the
representation of nations in the College of Cardinals, that number has increased.
In 1970 Paul VI decreed those cardinals who had reached the age of eighty before
the start of a conclave ineligible to vote in the conclave, and also increased the
limit of active cardinal electors to 120.[24][25] Though this remains the
theoretical limit, John Paul II (in office 1978-2005) exceeded this for short
periods of time with knowledge of impending retirements. John Paul II also
specified that cardinals who are under eighty before the day the Holy See becomes
vacant would still be entitled to vote even if they had turned eighty by the time
the conclave starts.[3]