THE death of a pope Starts one secular ritual Implying sacred oaths by the cardinals electing a successor, drilling the voting bulletins with a needle and a thread after their count, then burn them to produce white or black smoke to point out whether there is a new leader for the 1.3 billion Catholics in the world.
Here is an overview of the process:
Who is in charge?
After the Pope’s death, Camerlengo, or Chamberlain, must certify death and seal the papal apartment. He directs the administrative and financial duties of the Holy See Until a new pope takes over.
Camerlengo’s largely ceremonial work is currently occupied by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the American chief of Irish origin of the Vatican Laïc office, who also announced the death on Monday morning.
What is timing?
The death of a pope begins a precise sequence of events which include confirmation of death at the Pontiff’s home, the transfer of the coffin to the Saint-Pierre basilica for public viewing, a funeral mass and a burial. Burial must take place between the fourth and the sixth day after his death.
After the funeral, nine days ago of official mourning, known as “Novinali”.
During this period, the cardinals arrived in Rome. To give everyone time to come together, the conclave must start 15 to 20 days after the declaration of the “vacant sede”, although it can start earlier if the cardinals agree.
Who can elect a pope?
Only cardinals under the age of 80 are eligible to vote. Current regulations originally limit the number of voters to 120, but the popes have often exceeded this ceiling. According to the most recently updated Vatican statistics, there were 135 cardinals under the age of 80 and eligible to vote. Cardinals over 80 can be elected Pope.
Those over the age of 80 cannot vote but can participate in meetings before contractions, called general congregations, in which church problems are discussed. It was during these meetings in 2013 that Jorge Mario Bergoglio, at the time, spoke of the need for the Church to go to the “existential peripheries” to find those who suffer – an outside Trémail speech which helped its election.
▶ Find out more about How the next pope will be chosen
