Pope Benedict XVI’s abrupt resignation has made Francis Cardinal George’s planned March 1st visit to Saint Xavier University impossible.
According to Graziano Marcheschi, Executive Director of University Ministry, the world’s cardinals must arrive in Rome by February 28 to attend a farewell gathering for the Pope before meeting to elect a new pontiff. As a result, Cardinal George will not be able to keynote Saint Xavier’s week long Second Vatican Council commemoration.
The official papal conclave, which will elect the new pope, is expected to begin March 15 but may start sooner in order to pick a successor before Holy Week.
During the conclave, which will convene in the Sistine Chapel, 117 cardinals from around the world will essentially be locked in until they choose a pope. They will have no access to any communication with the outside world and will take an oath of secrecy.
On each day of the conclave after the first, the cardinals will vote four times for a new pope, twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon. A two thirds super-majority is required to elect a pope. After each vote is tallied, the ballots are burned. If there is no winner, chemicals are added to the fire to create black smoke. If a pope has been chosen, the ballots are burned alone, creating white smoke.
According to Marcheschi, the cardinals take a number of qualities into consideration when choosing a pope including language skills, theological knowledge, whether the candidate is well-traveled and overall holiness.
He also stressed that cardinals will take into consideration whether the candidate has “strong administrative and collaborative skills” and knows “how to play Vatican politics” because, in addition to being the Church’s spiritual leader, the pope is also head of a large state bureaucracy.
Some possible contenders for pope include Cardinals Gianfranco Ravasi and Angelo Scola of Italy, Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Canada and Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana, according to Marcheschi.
He says that an American cardinal is unlikely to be elected pope because of the U.S.’s superpower status, but if anyone has a chance, it would be Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston.
“There is a good likelihood it [the papacy] will go back to the Italians this time,” predicts Marcheschi. If true, it would be the first Italian pope in 33 years.
Tony Bara
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