Watching and waiting: customs and ceremonies surrounding death of a pope
“Pope Francis has returned to the House of the Father.” Those sad words, read out by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, a former Bishop of Dallas, shortly after 10 a.m. local time yesterday morning echoed John Paul II’s final utterance in April 2005: “Allow me to depart to the house of the Father”. It is twenty years since the world last saw a pope die in office.
Few Catholics can not have been moved by Francis’s dignified response to suffering and decline over the past few months, which his spiritual testament has now told us he offered “to the Lord, for peace in the world and for fraternity among peoples”. His long hospitalisation occasioned an outpouring of sympathy and concern; he willed himself to be discharged from the Gemelli Hospital to reach the Easter liturgies, and to appear amongst his flock one last time.
Francis’s demise has now set in motion an ancient and well-established series of rites. Farrell, the cardinal camerlengo (the chamberlain), will have verified the pope’s death, removed his fisherman’s ring, and have sealed off his private apartments – the added complexity that would have ensued had the pope died in hospital has been avoided. However, the Church has now entered a period of sede vacante (the time of “the seat being vacant”). Her normal laws and structures of authority are suspended. The world, even as it mourns, now waits expectantly for information about what will follow.
The first phase of activity during the sede vacante focuses on the repose of the papal body. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI lay in state only two years ago; around 200,000 people filed past this venerable priest to pay him their last respects and to pray for his soul. The practice for Francis is likely to be similar, although the numbers coming to Rome to honour his memory may be considerably larger. Eyes will also turn to Buenos Aires, where mass for Francis has already been said, and where further commemorations are likely being planned.
The papal funeral in St Peter’s Square is traditionally presided over by the Dean of the Sacred College (currently the ninety-one-year-old Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re). It should take place between four and six days after the pope’s death. Dignitaries are expected to fly in for it from around the world – including, we have learned, President and Mrs Trump. Hundreds of thousands of ordinary mourners will also make the journey; security will be tight, and the Italian government will hope that everything passes as smoothly as it did in 2005.
There are then nine further days of mourning for the late pope (the novendiales). Historically, these have provided an opportunity to make arrangements for Church governance during the vacancy and the conclave. However, they are also important as a moment of breathing space for the cardinals entrusted with the awesome task of electing a papal successor.
All cardinals, even the non-voting ones over 80, are eligible to take part in the discussions that take place at this time, both during the formal consistories and at their fringes. Many current cardinals will not know each other well – a legacy of Francis’s push to have all Catholic communities represented, no matter how small. The non-curial cardinals in particular will need this time to become acquainted, to sound out each other’s views, and to form judgments about each others’ qualities and vulnerabilities.
The voting cardinals will also likely turn to their non-voting brethren for advice. Many of these elder statesmen will play an important and active part in the proceedings. Their voices, those of experience, will be valued and consulted.
The conclave itself should begin anywhere from fifteen to twenty days after the pope’s death. That said, Benedict XVI’s constitution Normas nonnullas (2013) in fact gives the cardinals unprecedented discretion over its timing: they can move it forwards, but also backwards.
Recent conclaves have taken place in the Sistine Chapel and it would be a major surprise if this were not the case this time around. The cardinals themselves will stay at the Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis’s former home, for the duration. Electronic communications will be closely monitored, not least for outside interference. Two ballots will likely be held each day: one in the morning and one in the evening. Prayer and contemplation will fill the time in between.
Voting regulations for the conclave have varied considerably over time, but the modern “one cardinal, one vote” procedure has been in place since at the Third Lateran Council of 1179. Pope Alexander III instigated rules then that each cardinal has an equal vote, and that the votes of two-thirds of the cardinals are required to win. The only slight modification in place today is that there is now a “run off” between the leading candidates after thirty deadlocked ballots.
Although the Church currently has fifteen extra voting cardinals above the 120 named by John Paul II’s conclave constitution Universi Dominici gregis (1996) they are all likely to be welcomed in. Whom the cardinals will choose is historically very difficult to predict. Much media commentary in recent months has focused on the Sacred College’s so-called “progressive majority”. Over two-thirds of cardinals are Francis’s picks so it would seem logical that they would be willing and able to elect someone in his image.
Alas, voting for a pope does not work quite like that, not least on account of the influence of the Holy Spirit. Cardinals are a sophisticated electorate who will consider the many facets of a man’s character, not just his most obvious ideological leanings.
Some Catholics will be hoping for another pope from the Global South, others for a man who will be more sympathetic to traditionalism within the Church than Francis sometimes was. Whatever their views, the cardinals themselves will be tight-lipped and respectful – both to Francis and to the process of choosing who will succeed him.
We will only know what has happened once the senior cardinal-deacon intones the famous “habemus papam” from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica. He will then inform the world of the name the new pontiff has chosen, who will to pray with and for the whole Church. “He who enters the conclave a pope leaves it a cardinal,” an old saying goes. We will just have to wait and see, with hearts primed and eyes peeled.
Few Catholics can not have been moved by Francis’s dignified response to suffering and decline over the past few months, which his spiritual testament has now told us he offered “to the Lord, for peace in the world and for fraternity among peoples”. His long hospitalisation occasioned an outpouring of sympathy and concern; he willed himself to be discharged from the Gemelli Hospital to reach the Easter liturgies, and to appear amongst his flock one last time.
Francis’s demise has now set in motion an ancient and well-established series of rites. Farrell, the cardinal camerlengo (the chamberlain), will have verified the pope’s death, removed his fisherman’s ring, and have sealed off his private apartments – the added complexity that would have ensued had the pope died in hospital has been avoided. However, the Church has now entered a period of sede vacante (the time of “the seat being vacant”). Her normal laws and structures of authority are suspended. The world, even as it mourns, now waits expectantly for information about what will follow.
The first phase of activity during the sede vacante focuses on the repose of the papal body. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI lay in state only two years ago; around 200,000 people filed past this venerable priest to pay him their last respects and to pray for his soul. The practice for Francis is likely to be similar, although the numbers coming to Rome to honour his memory may be considerably larger. Eyes will also turn to Buenos Aires, where mass for Francis has already been said, and where further commemorations are likely being planned.
The papal funeral in St Peter’s Square is traditionally presided over by the Dean of the Sacred College (currently the ninety-one-year-old Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re). It should take place between four and six days after the pope’s death. Dignitaries are expected to fly in for it from around the world – including, we have learned, President and Mrs Trump. Hundreds of thousands of ordinary mourners will also make the journey; security will be tight, and the Italian government will hope that everything passes as smoothly as it did in 2005.
There are then nine further days of mourning for the late pope (the novendiales). Historically, these have provided an opportunity to make arrangements for Church governance during the vacancy and the conclave. However, they are also important as a moment of breathing space for the cardinals entrusted with the awesome task of electing a papal successor.
All cardinals, even the non-voting ones over 80, are eligible to take part in the discussions that take place at this time, both during the formal consistories and at their fringes. Many current cardinals will not know each other well – a legacy of Francis’s push to have all Catholic communities represented, no matter how small. The non-curial cardinals in particular will need this time to become acquainted, to sound out each other’s views, and to form judgments about each others’ qualities and vulnerabilities.
The voting cardinals will also likely turn to their non-voting brethren for advice. Many of these elder statesmen will play an important and active part in the proceedings. Their voices, those of experience, will be valued and consulted.
The conclave itself should begin anywhere from fifteen to twenty days after the pope’s death. That said, Benedict XVI’s constitution Normas nonnullas (2013) in fact gives the cardinals unprecedented discretion over its timing: they can move it forwards, but also backwards.
Recent conclaves have taken place in the Sistine Chapel and it would be a major surprise if this were not the case this time around. The cardinals themselves will stay at the Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis’s former home, for the duration. Electronic communications will be closely monitored, not least for outside interference. Two ballots will likely be held each day: one in the morning and one in the evening. Prayer and contemplation will fill the time in between.
Voting regulations for the conclave have varied considerably over time, but the modern “one cardinal, one vote” procedure has been in place since at the Third Lateran Council of 1179. Pope Alexander III instigated rules then that each cardinal has an equal vote, and that the votes of two-thirds of the cardinals are required to win. The only slight modification in place today is that there is now a “run off” between the leading candidates after thirty deadlocked ballots.
Although the Church currently has fifteen extra voting cardinals above the 120 named by John Paul II’s conclave constitution Universi Dominici gregis (1996) they are all likely to be welcomed in. Whom the cardinals will choose is historically very difficult to predict. Much media commentary in recent months has focused on the Sacred College’s so-called “progressive majority”. Over two-thirds of cardinals are Francis’s picks so it would seem logical that they would be willing and able to elect someone in his image.
Alas, voting for a pope does not work quite like that, not least on account of the influence of the Holy Spirit. Cardinals are a sophisticated electorate who will consider the many facets of a man’s character, not just his most obvious ideological leanings.
Some Catholics will be hoping for another pope from the Global South, others for a man who will be more sympathetic to traditionalism within the Church than Francis sometimes was. Whatever their views, the cardinals themselves will be tight-lipped and respectful – both to Francis and to the process of choosing who will succeed him.
We will only know what has happened once the senior cardinal-deacon intones the famous “habemus papam” from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica. He will then inform the world of the name the new pontiff has chosen, who will to pray with and for the whole Church. “He who enters the conclave a pope leaves it a cardinal,” an old saying goes. We will just have to wait and see, with hearts primed and eyes peeled.
26-30, F
