The conclave to elect the following pope is now underway on the Vatican. The cardinals — the prelates who’re slightly below the pope within the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy — will vote by secret poll for a successor to Pope Francis till one candidate earns a two-thirds majority.
Whereas we could not know what’s being mentioned throughout the conclave — it’s off limits to outsiders — we do have a reasonably good concept what it should appear to be. Throughout the gathering, the cardinals will comply with particular directions and use a number of distinctive objects to facilitate the method, many steeped in custom.
Right here’s a take a look at a few of these objects, and the that means behind them.
Voting Devices
When the cardinals vote within the Sistine Chapel, they are going to be sitting in rows of straightforward wood tables. At one finish of the chapel, a big desk is ready up for many who run the voting, in accordance with the Universi Dominici Gregis, or U.D.G., one of many paperwork used to control the papal transition.
The room additionally accommodates voting devices, together with an urn to obtain the ballots, a set of wood balls, and a needle and cord. The urn is used to gather the ballots, rectangular items of paper printed with the Latin phrase “Eligo in Summum Pontificem” (“I elect as Supreme Pontiff”).
The ballots include an area the place every cardinal writes within the identify of his chosen candidate. The ballots are positioned within the urn and are eliminated for counting after all of the cardinals have voted.
The wood balls are used to maintain monitor of the ballots. The balls have numbers written on them that correspond to the variety of cardinals voting within the conclave. Because the ballots are being counted, an attendant removes one of many wood balls for every poll, to make sure that the quantity matches the variety of cardinals, in accordance with The Catholic Advocate, previously a newspaper of the Archdiocese of Newark, N.J. If the numbers don’t match, the ballots should be burned with out being learn and one other vote is performed instantly, in accordance with the U.D.G.
Because the ballots are being learn, they’re pierced with the needle by the phrase “Eligo” and strung onto the thread, “in order that the ballots will be extra securely preserved,” in accordance with the U.D.G.
The Oath of Secrecy
The conclave is a secretive establishment, and lots of steps are taken to forestall leaks, together with limiting the cardinals’ use of telephones, the web and newspapers.
The members of the Faculty of Cardinals, the physique that can elect the pope, should additionally swear and signal an oath of secrecy, in accordance with the U.D.G. The oath reads, partially: “I’ll observe absolute and perpetual secrecy with all who should not a part of the Faculty of Cardinal electors regarding all issues instantly or not directly associated to the ballots solid and their scrutiny for the election of the Supreme Pontiff.”
The cardinals additionally should promise to not report something in Vatican Metropolis throughout the time of the election. The punishment for breaking the oath is “automated” excommunication, in accordance with the oath.
The Range
The weekend earlier than the conclave started, Vatican employees put in a easy range through which ballots could be burned within the Sistine Chapel. Hearth crews additionally put in a chimney on the roof of the chapel, the place the smoke will depart the constructing.
After every spherical of voting, the ballots are combined with chemical substances that, when burned, emit both black or white smoke. Black smoke signifies that the cardinals haven’t but reached the requisite majority; white smoke signifies that a brand new pope has been elected and voting is over.
The Seal
Initially of the conclave, the Apostolic Palace, which accommodates the Sistine Chapel, is closed to the general public. On Wednesday, members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard positioned beaded ropes with the guard’s seal on the entrances to the palace to make sure privateness and preserve secrecy for the cardinals.
The Vatican Metropolis authorities additionally deliberate to deactivate cellphone service inside its territory in the course of the conclave, beginning on Wednesday afternoon.
The Papal Vestments
After a pope is elected, he’s taken to the “Room of Tears,” a small room subsequent to the Sistine Chapel, the place he’ll placed on the white papal cassock for the primary time. Clothes in three sizes are ready and stored within the room, since nobody is aware of who — or what dimension — the following pope will likely be.
The room is named the “Room of Tears” as a result of there are accounts of earlier popes turning into overwhelmed with emotion within the room, and being moved to tears, after their election. After the pope places on the vestments, he’s launched to the general public for the primary time.
