page_title: Papal conclave
section_title: Modern practice
hierarchical_section_title: Papal conclave / Modern practice
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: de:Domus Sanctae Marthae von der Kuppel des Petersdoms
context_page_description: 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.
  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 in 1274 that the cardinal electors should be locked in seclusion cum clave and not permitted to leave until a new pope had been elected. Conclaves are now held in the Sistine Chapel of the Apostolic Palace.
  Since the Apostolic Age, the bishop of Rome, like other bishops, was chosen by the consensus of the clergy and laity of the diocese. The body of electors was more precisely defined when, in 1059, the College of Cardinals was designated the sole body of electors. Since then, other details of the process have developed. In 1970, Pope Paul VI limited the electors to cardinals under 80 years of age in Ingravescentem aetatem. The current procedures were established by Pope John Paul II in his apostolic constitution Universi Dominici gregis as amended by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007 and 2013.
context_section_description: In 1996, John Paul II promulgated a new Apostolic Constitution, called Universi Dominici gregis, which, with a slight modification by Pope Benedict XVI, now governs the election of the pope, abolishing all previous constitutions on the matter, but preserving many procedures that date to much earlier times.
  Under Universi Dominici gregis, the cardinals are to be lodged in a purpose-built edifice, the Domus Sanctae Marthae, but are to continue to vote in the Sistine Chapel.
  Several duties are performed by the Dean of the College of Cardinals, who is always a Cardinal Bishop. If the Dean is not entitled to participate in the conclave owing to age, his place is taken by the Sub-Dean, who is also always a Cardinal Bishop. If the Sub-Dean also cannot participate, the senior Cardinal Bishop participating performs the functions.
  Since the College of Cardinals is a small body, there have been proposals that the electorate should be expanded. Proposed reforms include a plan to replace the College of Cardinals as the electoral body with the Synod of Bishops, which includes many more members. Under present procedure, however, the Synod may only meet when called by the pope. Universi Dominici gregis explicitly provides that even if a synod or an ecumenical council is in session at the time of a pope's death, it may not perform the election. Upon the pope's death, either body's proceedings are suspended, to be resumed only upon the order of the new pope.
  It is considered poor form to campaign for the position of pope. However, there is inevitably always much speculation about which cardinals have serious prospects of being elected. Speculation tends to mount when a pope is ill or aged and shortlists of potential candidates appear in the media. A cardinal who is considered to be a prospect for the papacy is described informally as a papabile (an adjective used substantively: the plural form is papabili), a term coined by Italian-speaking Vatican watchers in the mid-twentieth century, literally meaning "pope-able".
caption: Since the conclave of 2005, the cardinals electors reside in the Domus Sanctae Marthae for the length of the conclave
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