Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-05-23
ELECTION OF A NEW POPE.
What Happens When the uprema R)man Pom
tiff lis

OF Pope, the tenth day in ordinary
calculations. but the eleventh if the
day of the Pope's death is counted, the
cardinals meet in conclave to elect his
successor They meet in the Vatican
palace. where, locked UP in a vast
suite OF rooms, every act regulated by
| laws nearly six centuries old, they
vote daily until they succeed in choos-
ing Pope. The laws governing the
conclave are many and minute. The
| general course of the conclave is set
forth here.
The Pope dies. As soon as he is dead
| the officials of the papal court leave
| the palace; nowadays, they will sim
ply leave the chamber of the dead
Pope, for it must not be forgotten that
the Pope is still, together with his
| officials, prisoner; 50 outside Of the
| Vatican the officials cannot go except
individually. The cardinal-camerlen-
so. or chamberlain. announces to the
people of the court that his Holiness
is dead; and then breaks with a ham
mcr the ring of the Fisherman and the
seal of the dead Pope. The dean of the
Sacred College. the senior cardinal
priest and the senior cardinal deacon
then take charge of the administration
of the affairs of the church and send
notice to all the cardinals not in the
city. These cardinals are not sum-
moned: they come at once without be-
ing called. For ten days funeral SER
vices are held daily in St Peters
church. and then the body is placed in
a temporary resting place
10 Of 4
law; but it is not obligatory on the
cardinals to obey the law. In fact,
! there are several things fixed by the
Roman Ceremonial governing the
conClave that may be diSregarded So
the conclave may begin within ten
days. or it may not begin for a good
deal more than ten days 1t all de-
Ponds. But on the appointed day the
cardinals gather in st. Peters. and
the cardinal-dean celebrates the mass
of the Holy Ghost. After this the car
dinals, in procession. singing ''Veni.
Creator Spiritus" march to the place
Of the conClave in the palace There
the dean recites the prayer. Deus qui
corda.' and the constitutions govern
ing the conclave are read ana the car
dinals take oath TO obey them. Dur
ing the rest of the day the cardinals
receive their friends; but when eve
ming comes the friends depart and the
cardinals are shut up; the conclave
begins.
The Pope, whose importance as
actual Bishop Of Rome was much more
apparent formerly than now. when his
duties are 50 much more varied than
those Of an ordinary bishop. was
chosen at first by the people of the
city. Then grew up. little by little. the
restriction to the cardinals Of the right
Of suffrage in choosing the Pope. The
Romans for many years retained the
right Of objecting to the choice. very
much in the same manner as the for
bidding bans Of marriage is now eX-
erciSed." says an English student Of
the history Of the conclaves. Then,
after the right Of the people had be-
come obsolete, the Emperor asserted
his right to i controlling voice in the
election; but this right depended much
on the character and residence of the
Emperor. Three outside powers still
assert q right to interfere. not after
the election by way Of a veto. but dur
ing The conclaVe. if they learn that
some cardinal to whom they are OPP
posed is likely to be elected These
powers are France. Austria and Spain
and not further ago than 1881 Spain
forbade the election of Cardinal
Giustiniani. The fact that outside
powers can communicate with cardi-
nails within the conclave rather com
bats the Widespread belief that the
conclavists are shut off from the world
ana rely wholly on divine guidance in
their use of the right to vote.
The conclave itself is a creature of
growth In its present form it seems
TO have begun about 1916, and against
the Will of the cardinals. for in that
year Innocent III. died at Perugia. and
the Perugians shut up the cardinals,
who were in that city. and would not
let them out until they had chosen a
new Pope-Honorious III. Gregory II.
was elected in the same way, the Ro-
mans shutting up the cardinals until
they had chosen him. In 1872 Gregory
X was chosen in the same manner.
Only, in his case the people of Viterbo
removed the roof of the building where
the cardinals were shut up. to make
them decide more quickly. The reason
for shutting up the cardinals undoubt-
Pope being in those days the temporal
ruler Of Rome and. as all administra-
ton was suspended at his death, nat
urally the people were interested in
getting a new ruler as well as a new
Pope.
So the conclave begins in the evening
Of the 18th day after the Pontiff' ;
death. or else at some other time. The
door is closed and locked with two
KEYS. one of which is kept by the
cardinal-camerlengO. the other by the
governor Of the conclave. prelate
chosen by the cardinals. a turning
box is built into the door through
which food is passed: the keys are kept
nv an outside guard, and by the chief
master of ceremonies on the inside
Prelates Of various grades. changed
tvice each day. watch outside that no
tatters or messages are brought in, ana
~ theory nothing can reach the CON
ara,is+s from the outside world. On
| III inside the cardinal-dean and the
| camerlengo make tour OF inspection
oI,arv evening to see that all is safe.
There are many more persons IN the
! concIaye than the cardinals. Each
cardinal is entitled to two servants.