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Cardinals Gather to Select a New Pope Cardinals Gather to Select a New Pope
(35 minutes later)
VATICAN CITY — Cardinal Angelo Sodano, celebrating the Mass on Tuesday preceding the conclave to elect the next pope, issued an appeal for unity in the Roman Catholic Church, which has been damaged by Vatican corruption and clerical sexual abuse scandals. VATICAN CITY — After hearing a call for unity and charity, 115 cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church entered the Sistine Chapel chanting Latin prayers on Tuesday and got down to the ritualistic business of electing a pontiff from their ranks.
As dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Sodano delivered his homily hours before the prelates entered the Sistine Chapel for the conclave to choose a successor to Benedict XVI. It was the last major public statement by a Vatican prelate before the church’s next supreme pontiff emerges. The conclave began 12 days after Benedict XVI became the first pope in modern times to renounce the throne of Peter. It was a period fraught with tense discussions about what kind of pope was needed for a church threatened by secularism, the scandal of clerical sex abuse and a Vatican bureaucracy stippled with corruption.
“St. Paul teaches that each of us must work to build up the unity of the church,” Cardinal Sodano said. “All of us are therefore called to cooperate with the pastors, in particular with the successor of Peter, to obtain that unity of the holy church.” The script was clear for the cardinals, and Vatican television showed the conclave’s opening pageantry. They glided two by two from the Pauline Chapel in the Apostolic Palace, through the Sala Reggia and into the Sistine Chapel, approached the altar and bowed before it.
He also dwelled on the church’s charitable and evangelizing mission and prayed for the future pope to continue to promote peace and justice around the world. The cardinal, who for nearly 20 years has been one of the most influential figures in the Vatican and served John Paul II and Benedict XVI as secretary of state, made several mentions of those two popes. They took their places behind tables placed along the length of the chapel’s walls, with green ritual books, red folders and folded placards with their names on them. They placed their birettas — square, peaked crimson hats — in front of them.
He referred to the “luminous pontificate” of the “beloved and venerated Pontiff Benedict XVI, to whom in this moment we renew our profound gratitude,” drawing long applause from the worshipers. A number of the cardinals, but not all, clapped their hands modestly. The cardinals, led by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, an Italian and the senior cardinal present, collectively swore, in Latin, to maintain secrecy and obedience to the constitution on papal transition. They also made an oath that if elected they would faithfully carry out the duties of a pope and defend the Holy See. Each then individually swore adherence with a hand on the gospel, in a Latin accented by their native languages — German, American, Arabic, Spanish, and so on.
The cardinals have appeared divided over whether the next pope should be an outsider who would reform the Italian-dominated Curia, or Vatican bureaucracy; an internal choice who could bring change from within; or a galvanizing leader who can shore up the church in the face of growing secularism and inroads by Protestant evangelicals. Then the papal master of ceremonies, Msgr. Guido Marini, pronounced the words “extra omnes”: everyone out. Several dozen attendants, clergymen and at least three members of the Vatican press office left. Monsignor Marini was then shown closing the two carved wooden doors, with a loud click. The procession and oaths took about an hour.
The decision by Benedict to resign — he is the first pontiff to step down in nearly 600 years — has also caused differences in the cardinals’ ranks. After listening to a meditation pronounced by a clergyman and bidding farewell to him and Father Marini, the princes of the church got down to business. They will write the name of their candidate on rectangular pieces of paper and tip them into a flying-saucer-shaped urn, to be counted by hand and recorded by three cardinals chosen by lot.
The homily, closely grounded in Gospel readings, was markedly different from the last such speech, which was given by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger ahead of the 2005 conclave that made him Pope Benedict XVI. At the time, Cardinal Ratzginer delivered a sharp warning against departing from fundamental Catholic teaching, denouncing what he called a “dictatorship of relativism” that leaves “only one’s ego and desires” as the ultimate measure. Only one round of balloting is provided for on the first day of a conclave, although Vatican officials explained that a vote is likely but not guaranteed — the cardinals can decide not to. One thing would seem predictable: that no one of the 115 cardinals present will receive 77 votes, or the required two-thirds, to become pope on that first ballot.
Cardinal Ratzinger’s showing going into the 2005 conclave was considered a factor in his election as pope. Cardinal Sodano will not take part in this conclave. He is over the age limit of 80. The ballots and notes will be burned in a special oven set up in the Sistine Chapel, with chemicals added to produce black or white smoke. White means the world has a pope, black that no result is reached. Black smoke is expected to arrive Tuesday toward the evening, white smoke by the end of the week.
At the outset of the Mass, the princes of the church moved slowly down the central aisle of St. Peter’s Basilica in pairs, wearing crimson robes and white miters as Gregorian chant echoed through the cavernous baroque space. They held their hands clasped in front, approached the altar, bent in reverence and parted ways to take their places. Readings took place in English, French, German, Malayalam, Portuguese, Spanish and Swahili. In the morning, the cardinals celebrated a Mass led by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, who gave the last major public statement by a Vatican prelate before the church’s next supreme pontiff emerges.
The cardinals were scheduled at 4:30 p.m. to hold their procession into the Sistine Chapel to swear an oath of secrecy and obedience to the constitution on papal transition. After the words “extra omnes” — everyone out — the princes of the church get down to business, writing the name of their candidate on rectangular pieces of paper and tip them into a flying-saucer shaped urn. “St. Paul teaches that each of us must work to build up the unity of the church,” the cardinal said in his homily. “All of us are therefore called to cooperate with the pastors, in particular with the successor of Peter, to obtain that unity of the holy church.”
He also spoke of the church’s charitable and evangelizing mission and prayed for the future pope to continue to promote peace and justice around the world. The cardinal has long been one of the most influential figures in the Vatican and the ultimate insider, serving both John Paul II and Benedict as secretary of state. He mentioned both several times.
He referred to the “luminous pontificate” of the “beloved and venerated Pontiff Benedict XVI, to whom in this moment we renew our profound gratitude,” drawing long applause from the worshipers. A number of the cardinals, but not all, clapped modestly. Benedict, now bearing the title pope emeritus, was at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, a nearby hill town.
The cardinals have appeared divided over whether the next pope should be an outsider who would reform the Italian-dominated Curia, or Vatican bureaucracy; an internal choice who could bring change from within; or a galvanizing leader who could shore up the church in the face of growing secularism and inroads by Protestant evangelicals. Benedict’s decision to resign also was not universally welcomed in their ranks, according to news reports.
Since March 4, they have spent each day meeting as a whole for formal discussions. On Monday, the last day, they heard a report on the Vatican bank, which is facing criticism over its lack of transparency and adherence to international banking standards.
The homily, closely grounded in Gospel readings, was markedly different from the last such speech, which was given by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger ahead of the 2005 conclave that chose him pope. Then, Cardinal Ratzinger delivered a sharp warning against departing from fundamental Catholic teaching, denouncing what he called a “dictatorship of relativism” that leaves “only one’s ego and desires” as the ultimate measure.
That showing was considered a factor in his election.
Cardinal Sodano will not take part in this conclave. He is over the age limit of 80.
“It wasn’t anything like Ratzinger’s,” said the Rev. Thomas Reese, a senior fellow of the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University who was in Rome following the conclave. “That was tough. This was more like a homily on the readings than an agenda for action.”
Christopher M. Bellitto, a church historian at Kean University in Union, N.J., suggested that Cardinal Sodano might have been issuing a “plea for gentleness” to the cardinals who may be looking for a pope to shake up the bureaucracy of the Vatican. “It’s pretty clear there’s going to be a night of the long knives,” he said.
At the outset of the Mass, which was open to the public, the cardinals moved slowly down the central aisle of St. Peter’s Basilica in pairs, a wash of crimson robes and white mitres as Gregorian chant echoed through the cavernous Baroque space. They held their hands clasped in front, approached the altar, bent in reverence and parted ways to take their places. Readings took place in Swahili, Portuguese, French, Italian, English, Spanish and German.
Unlike previous recent conclaves, where powerful figures like Cardinal Ratzinger loomed large, this conclave seems wide open, with a scattered field of “papabili,” or pope-ables.Unlike previous recent conclaves, where powerful figures like Cardinal Ratzinger loomed large, this conclave seems wide open, with a scattered field of “papabili,” or pope-ables.
Only one round of balloting is likely on the first day of a conclave, although Vatican officials explained that a vote is not guaranteed — the cardinals can decide not to. One thing is very predictable: that no one of the 115 cardinals present will receive 77 votes, or the required two-thirds, to become pope on that first ballot. Candidates will build up blocks of votes over succeeding rounds. Two are scheduled in the morning and two in the afternoon each day.
Candidates build up blocks of votes over succeeding rounds. Two rounds are scheduled in the morning and two in the afternoon each successive day. The process was set in motion on Feb. 11, when Benedict announced he would resign because of waning strength in his old age, unprecedented in modern times. A helicopter lifted him away from the Vatican on Feb. 28 and took him to Castel Gandolfo, where he is to remain in seclusion for several months until returning to a convent in the Vatican.
The ballots and notes will be burned in a special oven set up in the Sistine Chapel, with chemicals added to produce black or white smoke. White means the world has a pope, black that no result is reached. Black smoke on Tuesday is expected to arrive toward the evening. A result is expected by the end of the week. The Vatican has said none of the cardinals, who had been meeting daily to discuss the needs of the church and the expectations of a future pope, had sought him out.
The process was set in motion on Feb. 11 when Benedict announced he would resign, a decision unprecedented in modern times. A helicopter lifted him away from the Vatican on Feb. 28 and took him to the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo, outside of Rome, where he is to remain in seclusion for several months until returning to a convent within the Vatican.
The Vatican has said none of the cardinals, who have been meeting daily to discuss the needs of the church and the expectations of a future pope, sought Benedict out.
Benedict’s longtime personal secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, was expected to attend the Mass on Tuesday in his role as prefect of the papal household, said the Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman. Benedict named Archbishop Gänswein as prefect several months before announcing his resignation.Benedict’s longtime personal secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, was expected to attend the Mass on Tuesday in his role as prefect of the papal household, said the Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman. Benedict named Archbishop Gänswein as prefect several months before announcing his resignation.
signation.