The Conclave

The word Conclave has two meanings here. It means the assembly of Cardinals that elects the Pope. It also means the enclosed place in which they meet to perform the election.

In 1271, seventeen Cardinals met in the episcopal palace in Viterbo, Italy, to elect a Pope. This voting session had been going on for two years and nine months and it did not appear that a decision was close. As no business of the Church could be conducted without a Pope, the people of Viterbo, led by Saint Bonaventure, decided to take action.

The mayor had the palace doors boarded shut, and The Savelli Family, one of the noble families of the town, stood guard to see that no one entered or left, believing that the Cardinals would decide more quickly if they were kept enclosed until they reached a decision. Still unable to elect a Pope, the seventeen Cardinals named a commission of six cardinals to conclude the election and thereby escape the confinement. 

They elected Pope Gregory X who, in 1274, realizing that such a long election could never be allowed to occur again, set the Rules of the Conclave which have remained essentially intact for more than seven centuries. He set the Conclave to begin ten days after the death of a Pope in order to give the Cardinals enough time to reach Rome and participate since, at that time, most of the Cardinals were in Europe. In 1922 Pope Pius XI extended the time to fifteen days with a Stipulation that if Cardinals were still missing, up to three more days could be added to the time.

Each Cardinal may take into the Conclave a Secretary and a personal assistant. Besides these, there are cooks, waiters, guards, physicians, barbers, and workmen needed for the Conclave.

In 1939 there were sixty-two cardinals, but the total number of people involved in the actual Conclave numbered 300. Everyone involved in the work of the Conclave takes an oath not to reveal what happens within the Conclave.

Before the first ballot, the names of nine cardinals are chosen at random to serve as Scrutineers, Infirmarians and Revisers, then Attendants distribute blank ballots and leave the Cardinals alone. 

Once the ballots are completed, each Cardinal proceeds to the altar with the ballot held high in his hand. There a chalice, covered with a paten, is ready to receive the ballots. Each Cardinal stands before the altar and recites, “I call as my witness Christ the Lord, who will be my judge, that my vote is given to the one whom, before God, I think should be elected.” The ballot is then placed on the paten, and the Cardinal tilts the paten to drop the vote into the chalice. 

If a Cardinal cannot walk to the altar, a Scrutineer will hear the oath and carry the ballot to the chalice for him. If a Cardinal is too ill to enter the actual Conclave, an Infirmarian will go to the ailing Cardinal with a special box to receive his ballot. 

When all of the votes have been deposited in the chalice, the three Scrutineers count them, one of them reading the name on each ballot out to the assemblage. A majority of two-thirds of the votes of the electors present is necessary for a valid election to take place, according to an amendment to the procedure decreed by Pope John Paul II. If the total number of ballots is not divisible by three, then a result will take place only upon a total of two-thirds plus one.

The three Revisers review the voting forms and the record of the count. If a Pope has not been elected, the ballots are burned with a special chemical in a stove whose smoke can be seen in Saint Peter’s Square. The added chemical causes the stove to emit black smoke. If a Pope has been elected, the ballots are burned without the chemical, and the smoke is white. 

If three days of balloting have passed without a result, voting is stopped for a day of discussion and prayer before it resumes again. 

When one candidate receives the necessary votes, the Cardinal Dean asks him, “Do you accept your canonical election as Supreme Pontiff?” The moment the candidate voices his assent he becomes Pope. Next the Cardinal Dean asks, “By what name do you wish to be called?” Since 535 A.D. the newly elected Pontiffs have taken a name other than their birth name. The attendants are admitted to the Conclave once again, and the Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations drafts a document recording the acceptance and the new name. 

The new Pope is then led the Room of Tears, a small, red room adjacent to the Sistine Chapel. New papal attire is there in three different sizes. He dresses alone and returns to the Conclave. The Cardinal Carmelengo places the new Fisherman’s ring on the Pope’s finger and each Cardinal pays his first respect to the new Pope as he sits on a faldstool placed before the altar. 

At the completion of the homage, the Pope goes immediately to the center balcony facing Saint Peter’s Square. First, the Cardinal Deacon declares in Latin, “I announce a great joy to you; we have a Pope. The most Imminent and most Reverend Cardinal N. who has taken the name……”. Then the new Pontiff comes forward and gives his first Apostolic Blessing, Urbi et Orbi, to the City of Rome and to the World.