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| Choosing the pope: Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor recalls the 2005 conclave | Choosing the pope: Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor recalls the 2005 conclave |
| (8 days later) | |
| Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, archbishop emeritus of Westminster and the former leader of Roman Catholics in England and Wales, voted in the 2005 conclave that elected Cardinal Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI. At 80, he is too old to have a say in who will be the next pope. Here, he recalls how Benedict was chosen. | Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, archbishop emeritus of Westminster and the former leader of Roman Catholics in England and Wales, voted in the 2005 conclave that elected Cardinal Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI. At 80, he is too old to have a say in who will be the next pope. Here, he recalls how Benedict was chosen. |
| It is extraordinary: not just the meetings before; it's when you actually process into the Sistine Chapel. I remember we had a sermon from a Capuchin and then it started. One of the cardinals says: 'Exeunt Omnes' – which means 'Everybody go out'. So all the MCs and the preacher went out and I heard the thud of the door of the Sistine Chapel. I remember looking round and thinking to myself: 'One of us is going to go out of here with a different cassock on.' | It is extraordinary: not just the meetings before; it's when you actually process into the Sistine Chapel. I remember we had a sermon from a Capuchin and then it started. One of the cardinals says: 'Exeunt Omnes' – which means 'Everybody go out'. So all the MCs and the preacher went out and I heard the thud of the door of the Sistine Chapel. I remember looking round and thinking to myself: 'One of us is going to go out of here with a different cassock on.' |
| One by one, we go up and we put our vote into the golden urn. In the Sistine Chapel, you're facing Michelangelo's Last Judgment and so it's a pretty solemn affair. You go up and you say, before God, I think this is the man who should be pope. Then you wait till everybody's voted and then the votes are called out one by one. | One by one, we go up and we put our vote into the golden urn. In the Sistine Chapel, you're facing Michelangelo's Last Judgment and so it's a pretty solemn affair. You go up and you say, before God, I think this is the man who should be pope. Then you wait till everybody's voted and then the votes are called out one by one. |
| I went over during one interval to have a look at the place where the smoke went up: in the Sistine Chapel, there's a little funnel that goes up through the roof and there's some special stuff that makes black smoke and some other stuff that makes white smoke. Usually they can't detect the white smoke very clearly. I was just interested to see. | I went over during one interval to have a look at the place where the smoke went up: in the Sistine Chapel, there's a little funnel that goes up through the roof and there's some special stuff that makes black smoke and some other stuff that makes white smoke. Usually they can't detect the white smoke very clearly. I was just interested to see. |
| I think there were four or five votes last time before it was quite clear that one man was getting more than anybody else. He had to get 77 – two-thirds. | I think there were four or five votes last time before it was quite clear that one man was getting more than anybody else. He had to get 77 – two-thirds. |
| I remember the senior cardinal going up to Cardinal Ratzinger and saying: 'Your Eminence, will you accept to be the supreme pontiff of the Catholic church?' And we all waited. He said: 'No. I can't.' And then he said: 'I accept as the will of God.' And then the cardinal said: 'What name will you take?' And he said: 'Benedict.' He must have thought about it the night before. | I remember the senior cardinal going up to Cardinal Ratzinger and saying: 'Your Eminence, will you accept to be the supreme pontiff of the Catholic church?' And we all waited. He said: 'No. I can't.' And then he said: 'I accept as the will of God.' And then the cardinal said: 'What name will you take?' And he said: 'Benedict.' He must have thought about it the night before. |
| Immediately he went out and behind there's a Vatican tailor who has three white cassocks: one large, one medium and one small. And after about 10 minutes he came back in his white cassock and sat down and we all went up one by one and kissed his ring and declared our loyalty to him and our fidelity to the faith with his guidance. And then he said: 'Now we must go out to the balcony.' | Immediately he went out and behind there's a Vatican tailor who has three white cassocks: one large, one medium and one small. And after about 10 minutes he came back in his white cassock and sat down and we all went up one by one and kissed his ring and declared our loyalty to him and our fidelity to the faith with his guidance. And then he said: 'Now we must go out to the balcony.' |
| So we followed him out to the balcony and then he was announced to the huge crowd outside and then we went back and had supper with him in the Casa di Santa Marta, the place where we were all staying. It was a very moving event and a very solemn event indeed. | So we followed him out to the balcony and then he was announced to the huge crowd outside and then we went back and had supper with him in the Casa di Santa Marta, the place where we were all staying. It was a very moving event and a very solemn event indeed. |
| Interview by Sam Jones | Interview by Sam Jones |
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