K.J. Jacob | Will the Next Pope Follow Francis’ Line? Cardinals to Gather for Conclave Today

The historic Sistine Chapel will host the Conclave of Cardinals from Wednesday, May 7, to elect the new Bishop of Rome, who will be the successor of Pope Francis and head of the Roman Catholic Church. It is estimated that 133 of the 135 cardinals eligible to vote in the election of the Pontiff will attend the conclave. The other 117 cardinals who are aged above 80 and hence ineligible will not be part of the exercise, which will culminate in the effusion of white smoke from the chimney of the chapel and the announcement by the cardinal dean to the world in Latin: “habemus papam” (we have got a pope).

The election of the Pope is a complex process. There indeed is an electoral roll but there is no candidates’ list in a papal election. The electors would assemble at the Michelangelo-adorned 15th-century chapel after spending days together in prayer in Rome after the passing of an incumbent Pope, and would have an idea of possible and potential candidates. There is no stipulation that only a cardinal can be elected a Pope; a priest of five years who is eligible to be a bishop can be elected as per the canon law that governs the papal election. The last person who was elected Pope from outside the College of Cardinals was Urban VI in 1378.

The electors would start voting on the first day of the conclave. There will be four polls on each day: two in the morning and two in the evening. If there is no conclusion by the 34 th poll, then the number of candidates would be reduced to two, and there will be run-off polls till one of the two gets two-thirds of the votes. The chimney would emit a black fume after every unsuccessful poll, and a white one after the election. It would follow an announcement after seeking the elected person’s concurrence.

Technicalities apart, the choice of the Roman pontiff has an impact outside the 110-acre Vatican state as the policies he pursues directly or indirectly touch the lives of millions of people, even outside the Catholic Church. Pope Francis, then Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, was said to be the most favourite to succeed John Paul II, who died in 2005. However, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, a Vatican insider and a close associate of the Polish Pope, was chosen in the fourth poll despite his largely orthodox leanings on theology, for the cardinals wanted continuity of the policies of John Paul II with respect to theology. Pope Francis’ election was also an easy process; a popular figure for his unassuming character and progressive ideas, he was elected in the fifth poll.

There are papabiles, the “would-be” Popes, this time, too, including Luis Antonio Tagle from the Philippines, dubbed the “Asian Francis”.
However, every piece of news about the papabile would also come with the Italian adage: “Enter the conclave as pope and leave as a cardinal”.

The 110-crore strong Catholic Church is considered a management wonder with just two layers of authority — the bishops who come from all nooks and corners of the world make the first layer, and the second is made of just one man: the Pope. The cardinals, the patriarchs and the major archbishops who head divisions and local churches are all part of the hierarchy, but are subservient to the Holy See with little independent power.

The papacy of John XXIII (1958-1963) is considered a turning point in modern Church history as it opened the church to the world. It almost dropped its conservative theories on salvation, started dialogue with the other faiths and introduced changes in liturgy, giving local churches more say. Paul VI, who succeeded John XXIII, took the process ahead as he became the first Pope in modern times to travel widely outside Rome and interact with people of countries and all faiths. Pope Paul VI visited India in 1964 during his many travels around the world advocating peace. Pope John Paul I succeeded Pope Paul VI and had the shortest stint of 33 days before his sudden death in 1978. The affable Pope had left a lasting impression on his successor Cardinal Karol Józef Wojtyła, who assumed the name John Paul II on his election as Pope at the age of 58. The Polish Pope is largely credited with the crumbling of the Communist influence in Eastern Europe and across the world, starting with the overthrow of the Communist dictatorship in his homeland, Poland. Considered a conservative in matters of faith, John Paul II, however, visited 129 countries, including India, during his 27-year reign from 1978 to 2005 as he initiated an intense dialogue with different faiths.

While Pope Benedict XVI, who succeeded John Paul II, confined himself to matters of religion and theology and became the first Pope to abdicate the position in modern times, his successor, Francis, changed the character of the Church by redefining the template with which it analysed its role in the world. Being human became the sole criteria to be considered a human being by the church; faith, colour, status, sexual orientation or even the past hardly mattered to Pope Francis when he met people and touched their lives. The three encyclicals he issued together sought to comprehensively address the concerns of the world and the last one, “Fratelli Tutti”, all brothers, positioned him as the ultimate champion of brotherhood. “No one can face life in isolation,” he said in the encyclical, and called upon people to “dream, then, as a single human family” in which we are “brothers and sisters all”.

Only time can tell if his successor, the Vicar of Christ on earth, will take from where Pope Francis left.