With the passing of Pope Francis on Monday, people are once again asking about the centuries-old process that determines who will become the next pope.
The method for selecting the Bishop of Rome is cloaked in ritual, secrecy, and symbolism, and this process was explored in detail by Daily Wire host Michael Knowles in a recent video, “How To Become The Pope.”
The death of Pope Francis has triggered what is known as the sede vacante, Latin for “the seat being vacant.”
As tradition dictates, the Catholic Church will now observe a period of nine days of mourning, which includes flying Vatican flags at half-staff and closing the bronze doors of St. Peter’s Basilica. The cardinals will decide on the date for Pope Francis’s funeral, usually within four to six days after a pope’s death.
Pope Francis recently changed protocol for his funeral and burial. Instead of being interred in the crypt beneath St. Peter’s Basilica, Francis requested to be laid to rest with minimal pageantry at Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major in a simple wooden casket.
After the funeral, the College of Cardinals, made up of senior church leaders under the age of 80, is summoned to Rome to elect Francis’ successor. As Knowles states in his video, there are currently 138 cardinals eligible to elect the next pope.
This process is done in a conclave, or a highly secretive gathering held within the Sistine Chapel, as Knowles explained. All participating cardinals are locked inside without access to the outside world until they can come to a decision. Voting takes place up to four times a day, and a two-thirds majority is required to elect a new pontiff.
Ballots are burned after each round of voting. Special chemicals are added to produce black smoke for an undecided vote or white smoke for an agreement, meaning a new Pope has been chosen. The watch for white smoke to emerge from a special stove in the Sistine Chapel is followed by millions of faithful Catholics and interested bystanders around the world.
Historically, political and regional factors have influenced who was chosen as pope. Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, is from Argentina. That made him the first pope from Latin America and the first pope from the Western Hemisphere after more than 1,200 years of popes of European descent. He was also the first Jesuit pope and has been criticized in recent years for his stance on social issues such as immigration.
Any baptized male Catholic is technically eligible to become pope, but in the past, only cardinals have been seriously considered for the position.
The election of a new pope is more than just a religious event. It is a process that sets the direction of the growing Catholic Church, which currently has 1.4 billion members, and the beginning of a new chapter for Catholicism on the global stage.
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With the passing of Pope Francis on Monday, people are once again asking about the centuries-old process that determines who will become the next pope.
The method for selecting the Bishop of Rome is cloaked in ritual, secrecy, and symbolism, and this process was explored in detail by Daily Wire host Michael Knowles in a recent video, “How To Become The Pope.”
The death of Pope Francis has triggered what is known as the sede vacante, Latin for “the seat being vacant.”
As tradition dictates, the Catholic Church will now observe a period of nine days of mourning, which includes flying Vatican flags at half-staff and closing the bronze doors of St. Peter’s Basilica. The cardinals will decide on the date for Pope Francis’s funeral, usually within four to six days after a pope’s death.
Pope Francis recently changed protocol for his funeral and burial. Instead of being interred in the crypt beneath St. Peter’s Basilica, Francis requested to be laid to rest with minimal pageantry at Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major in a simple wooden casket.
After the funeral, the College of Cardinals, made up of senior church leaders under the age of 80, is summoned to Rome to elect Francis’ successor. As Knowles states in his video, there are currently 138 cardinals eligible to elect the next pope.
This process is done in a conclave, or a highly secretive gathering held within the Sistine Chapel, as Knowles explained. All participating cardinals are locked inside without access to the outside world until they can come to a decision. Voting takes place up to four times a day, and a two-thirds majority is required to elect a new pontiff.
Ballots are burned after each round of voting. Special chemicals are added to produce black smoke for an undecided vote or white smoke for an agreement, meaning a new Pope has been chosen. The watch for white smoke to emerge from a special stove in the Sistine Chapel is followed by millions of faithful Catholics and interested bystanders around the world.
Historically, political and regional factors have influenced who was chosen as pope. Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, is from Argentina. That made him the first pope from Latin America and the first pope from the Western Hemisphere after more than 1,200 years of popes of European descent. He was also the first Jesuit pope and has been criticized in recent years for his stance on social issues such as immigration.
Any baptized male Catholic is technically eligible to become pope, but in the past, only cardinals have been seriously considered for the position.
The election of a new pope is more than just a religious event. It is a process that sets the direction of the growing Catholic Church, which currently has 1.4 billion members, and the beginning of a new chapter for Catholicism on the global stage.
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