Election, death and resignation Election Main article: Papal conclave The Giving of the Keys to Saint Peter

painted by Pietro Perugino (1 !"# The pope $as originally chosen by those senior clergy%en resident in and near &o%e' (n 1)*! the electorate $as restricted to the +ardinals of the ,oly &o%an +hurch, and the individual votes of all +ardinal Electors $ere %ade e-ual in 11.!' The electors are no$ li%ited to those $ho have not reached /) on the day before the death or resignation of a pope'0/12 Since the pope is 3ishop of &o%e, only those $ho can be ordained a bishop can be elected, $hich %eans that any %ale bapti4ed +atholic is eligible' The last to be elected $hen not yet a bishop $as Pope Gregory 56( in 1/71, and the last to be elected $hen not even a priest $as Pope 8eo 5 in 1*17, and the last to be elected $hen not a cardinal $as Pope 9rban 6( in 17./'0/.2 (f so%eone $ho is not a bishop is elected, he %ust be given episcopal ordination before the election is announced to the people' 0//2 The Second +ouncil of 8yon $as convened on . May 1". , to regulate the election of the pope' This +ouncil decreed that the cardinal electors %ust %eet $ithin ten days of the pope:s death, and that they %ust re%ain in seclusion until a pope has been elected; this $as pro%pted by the three<year sede vacante follo$ing the death of Pope +le%ent (6 in 1"1/' 3y the %id<11th century, the electoral process had evolved into its present for%, allo$ing for variation in the ti%e bet$een the death of the pope and the %eeting of the cardinal electors' Traditionally, the vote $as conducted by accla%ation, by selection (by co%%ittee#, or by plenary vote' =ccla%ation $as the si%plest procedure, consisting entirely of a voice vote, and $as last used in 11"1' Pope >ohn Paul (( abolished vote by accla%ation and by selection by co%%ittee, and henceforth election $ill be by full vote by ballot of the Sacred +ollege of +ardinals' The conclave in Konstan4 $here Pope Martin 6 $as elected The election of the pope al%ost al$ays ta?es place in the Sistine +hapel, in a se-uestered %eeting called a @conclave@ (so called because the cardinal electors are theoretically loc?ed in, cu% clave, i'e', $ith ?ey, until they elect a ne$ pope#' Three cardinals are chosen by lot to collect the votes of absent cardinal electors (by reason of illness#, three are chosen by lot to count the votes, and three are chosen by lot to revie$ the count of the votes' The ballots are distributed and each cardinal elector $rites the na%e of his choice on it and pledges aloud that he is voting for @one $ho% under God ( thin? ought to be elected@ before folding and depositing his vote on a plate atop a large chalice placed on the altar (in the "))* conclave, a special urn $as used for this purpose instead of a chalice and plate#' The plate is then used to drop the ballot into the chalice, %a?ing it difficult for electors to insert %ultiple ballots' 3efore being read, the ballots are counted $hile still folded; if the nu%ber of ballots does not %atch the nu%ber of electors, the ballots are burned unopened and a ne$ vote is held' Ather$ise, each ballot is read aloud by the presiding +ardinal, $ho pierces the ballot $ith a needle and thread, stringing all the ballots together and tying the ends of the thread to ensure accuracy and honesty' 3alloting continues until so%eone is elected by a t$o<thirds %aBority'0/!2 The for%al declaration of @,abe%us Papa%@ after the election of Pope Martin 6 Ane of the %ost pro%inent aspects of the papal election process is the %eans by $hich the results of a ballot are announced to the $orld' Ance the ballots are counted and bound together, they are burned in a special stove erected in the Sistine +hapel, $ith the s%o?e escaping through a s%all chi%ney visible fro% Saint Peter:s S-uare' The ballots fro% an unsuccessful vote are burned along $ith a che%ical co%pound to create blac? s%o?e, or fu%ata nera' (Traditionally, $et stra$ $as used to produce the blac? s%o?e, but this $as not co%pletely reliable' The che%ical co%pound is %ore reliable than the stra$'# Chen a vote is successful, the ballots are burned alone, sending $hite s%o?e (fu%ata bianca# through the chi%ney and announcing to the $orld the election of a ne$ pope' Starting $ith the "))* conclave,0!)2 church bells are also rung

as a signal that a ne$ pope has been chosen' The Dean of the +ollege of +ardinals then as?s t$o sole%n -uestions of the cardinal $ho has been elected' Eirst he as?s, @Do you freely accept your election as Supre%e PontiffF@ (f he replies $ith the $ord @=ccepto@, his reign begins at that instant, not at the inauguration cere%ony several days after$ard' The Dean then as?s, @3y $hat na%e shall you be calledF@ The ne$ pope then announces the regnal na%e he has chosen' ((f the Dean is elected pope, the 6ice Dean perfor%s this tas?'# The ne$ pope is led through the @Door of Tears@ to a dressing roo% $here three sets of $hite papal vest%ents (i%%antatio# a$ait: s%all, %ediu%, and large' Donning the appropriate vest%ents and ree%erging into the Sistine +hapel, the ne$ pope is given the @Eisher%an:s &ing@ by the +a%erlengo of the ,oly &o%an +hurch, $ho% he first either reconfir%s or reappoints' The pope then assu%es a place of honor as the rest of the cardinals $ait in turn to offer their first @obedience@ (adoratio# and to receive his blessing' The Senior +ardinal Deacon then announces fro% a balcony over Saint Peter:s S-uare the follo$ing procla%ation: =nnuntio vobis gaudiu% %agnu%G ,abe%us Papa%G (@( announce to you a great BoyG Ce have a popeG@#' ,e then announces the ne$ pope:s +hristian na%e along $ith his ne$ly chosen regnal na%e' 9ntil 1!./ the pope:s election $as follo$ed in a fe$ days by the Papal coronation' = procession $ith great po%p and circu%stance for%ed fro% the Sistine +hapel to St' Peter:s 3asilica, $ith the ne$ly elected pope borne in the sedia gestatoria' There, after a sole%n Papal Mass, the ne$ pope $as cro$ned $ith the triregnu% (papal tiara# and he gave for the first ti%e as pope the fa%ous blessing 9rbi et Arbi (@to the +ity 0&o%e2 and to the Corld@#' =nother reno$ned part of the coronation $as the lighting of a bundle of flaH at the top of a gilded pole, $hich $ould flare brightly for a %o%ent and then pro%ptly eHtinguish, $ith the ad%onition Sic transit gloria %undi (@Thus passes $orldly glory@#' = si%ilar $arning against papal hubris %ade on this occasion $as the traditional eHcla%ation @=nnos Petri non videbis@, re%inding the ne$ly cro$ned pope that he $ould not live to see his rule lasting as long as that of St' Peter, $ho according to tradition headed the church for 7* years and has thus far been the longest reigning pope in the history of the +atholic +hurch'0!12 = traditionalist +atholic belief clai%s the eHistence of a Papal Aath s$orn, at their coronation, by all popes fro% Pope =gatho to Pope Paul 6(, but $hich since the abolition of the coronation cere%ony is no longer used' There is no reliable authority for this clai%' The 8atin ter%, sede vacante (@$hile the see is vacant@#,0!"2 refers to a papal interregnu%, the period bet$een the death or resignation of a pope and the election of his successor' Ero% this ter% is derived the ter% sedevacantis%, $hich designates a category of dissident +atholics $ho %aintain that there is no canonically and legiti%ately elected pope, and that there is therefore a sede vacante' Ane of the %ost co%%on reasons for holding this belief is the idea that the refor%s of the Second 6atican +ouncil and especially the replace%ent of the Tridentine Mass $ith the Mass of Paul 6( are heretical, and that those responsible for initiating and %aintaining these changes are heretics and not true popes'0!720! 20!*2 Sedevacantists are considered to be schis%atics by the %ainstrea% &o%an +atholic +hurch' Eor centuries, fro% 17./ on, those elected to the papacy $ere predo%inantly (talians' Prior to the election of the Polish cardinal Karol CoBtyla as Pope >ohn Paul (( in 1!./, the last non<(talian $as Pope =drian 6( of the Ietherlands, elected in 1*""' >ohn Paul (( $as follo$ed by the Ger%an< born 3enedict 56(, $ho $as in turn follo$ed by =rgentinian<born Erancis'