The Catholic world prepares for one of the most solemn and hermetic rituals of its tradition: the conclave. In the next few days, more than a hundred cardinals will make their way to Rome to participate in the process of choice of the new Pontiff, after the eventual vacancy at Pedro’s headquarters. The term “conclave” comes from Latin cum keywhich means “key”a direct allusion to the strict confinement that marks this transcendental event in the life of the Church.
Although there are more than 220 cardinals today, only about 130 have the right to vote: they are The children under 80 yearsa rule designed to guarantee an active electorate and connected to the present of the Church. Two thirds of these cardinals were designated by Pope Francis, which anticipates an choice that will reflect their pastoral mark: a more inclusive, decentralized and less tied church to the traditional structures of European power.
The conclave is carried out in the Sistine Chapel, under the iconic roof painted by Miguel Ángel. Once the extra omnes “All outside,” only the voters, a handful of attendees and authorized medical personnel remain inside. From that moment, the doors close and the isolation begins: without phones, without internet, without any contact with the outside. The chapel is previously swept in search of listening devices and everything remains under absolute secret.
The cardinals stay in the Santa Marta house, inside the Vaticanwhere Francisco also resided throughout his papacy. There the meals rest and share, but deliberations develop exclusively in Sistine. The process opens with a special mass, after which the vote begins. Every day up to four votes are held (two in the morning and two in the afternoon), and a two -thirds majority is required to consecrate the new Pope. If after 30 votes there is no white smoking, a simple majority can be used.
Each voter writes his vote on a ballot that has been printed Eligo in Summum Pontificem (“I choose as high pontiff”)bend it and deposit it in a chalice. Then, ballots are burned in a special stove. If the smoke that emerges by the famous fireplace is black, there was no agreement. If it’s white, there is a new potato.
The chosen one can be any baptized male, although in practice the position always falls to a cardinal. After accepting the choice and choosing his pontifical name, the new Pope is taken to the so -called “Hall of Tears”, where he first dresses with the white habits prepared for the occasion. Three games are available in different sizes, made in advance by the Vatican tailors.
Finally, the Dean of the Cardinal College looks out to the balcony of the Basilica of San Pedro and pronounces the classic formula: Annuntio Vobis Gaudium Magnum: Habemus Papam. Then, the new Pope appears before the crowd gathered in the square and offers his first blessing as head of the Catholic Church. That moment marks the closure of an ancient process that combines solemnity, tradition and mystery, and that, once again, will launch a new stage for more than 1.3 billion faithful in the world.
By rn
