Process Of Election Of Pope

The pope can further legislate regarding the mode in which the subsequent election shall be carried out determining the composition of the electoral college and the conditions requisite for a definitive choice.

Process of election of pope. Concerns around political interference led to reforms after the interregnum of 1268 1271 and pope gregory x s decree during the second council of lyons. A papal conclave is a gathering of the college of cardinals convened to elect a bishop of rome also known as the pope the pope is considered by catholics to be the apostolic successor of saint peter and earthly head of the catholic church. The election of pope is an elaborate procedure.

The only remaining method of electing the pope is by scrutiny ie silent ballot the methods of election by acclamation and by committee have been excluded but were rarely used the older cardinals are still unable to enter the conclave but they are invited to take an active role in the preparatory meetings. Cardinals are a group of vatican senior officials whose task is to elect a new pope. On the other hand it is questionable whether ratzinger would have accepted election on such terms as the first pope in centuries with the support of a bare majority of the electors.

The following article provides all the details on the process of electing a new pope from the moment of the current pontiff s death or resignation to the moment a new pope is proclaimed to the waiting world. The process will continue until one candidate had been given the required majority to be elected as the next pope. The election is conducted during a meeting known as a papal conclave where cardinals come together to elect the pope in the event of the death or resignation of the current pope.

There was no fixed process for papal succession before 1059 and popes were often selected with substantial secular involvement if not outright appointment since the promulgation of in nomine domini 1059 however suffrage has been limited to the college of cardinals. Code of canon law does allow for it. If it happens that the roman pontiff resigns his office it is required for validity that the resignation is made freely and properly manifested but not that it is accepted by anyoneb.

Pope john paul ii altered the rules in 1996 and previously the pope had to receive a majority of two thirds plus one extra vote to be. 4 the decision this election will be the first ever to take place under some newly made rules. But does not have a system in place to orchestrate the departure by decision of one pope and the election of his successor.

The method at present followed is the result of a series of enactments on this subject. There have been 110 papal elections that have produced popes currently recognized by the catholic church as legitimate. 4 benedict issued de aliquis mutationibus in normis de electione romani pontificis on 11 june 2007 after two years as pope.