OPEN LETTER/ Come to the dialogue and listen to me speak, otherwise I will cut off your scholarships, you will rot in prison. Please!

 Kliko këtu për të tjera
Voxpress:

The new Pope could be elected tomorrow: All the details of the conclave, the most secret electoral process in the world

2025-05-06 22:11:36Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
The new Pope could be elected tomorrow: All the details of the conclave, the
Illustrative photo

It's the most secretive election process in the world. When 133 Catholic cardinals lock themselves in the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday to choose Pope Francis' successor, each of them will swear on the gospel to keep the details secret for the rest of their lives.

The same will be done for every person in the Vatican during the conclave, from the two emergency doctors to the staff of the canteen that feeds the cardinals. Everyone will be sworn to observe and eternally keep secrets.

The start of the conclave

The men (dressed in red) will set off from their residence in the “Casa Santa Marta” towards the Sistine Chapel. They will hand over their phones; the chapel has already been checked for listening devices and signal-jamming equipment has been installed. Each will take an oath of secrecy.

There will be "jammer"-type devices to ensure that phone and wi-fi signals do not enter or leave the room, as the Vatican takes the idea of ​​isolation very seriously.

Inside the chapel there will be no televisions, no newspapers, no radios, and those present will not even be able to open the windows to avoid communication with the outside world.

They will only have radios to communicate in emergencies, when a doctor is needed or when it needs to be announced that the Pope has been elected, let the bells ring.

Also, anyone working within the high walls of the holy see has been subjected to detailed vetting.

The papal master of ceremonies says “Extra omnes” (“All out”). All those present, except the voting cardinals and a small number of officials and doctors, leave and the doors are closed.

There are no speeches or debates inside the Sistine Chapel. The first vote is likely to take place on Wednesday afternoon. After that, there will be four ballots a day until one candidate reaches a majority of the votes.

Their day begins with Mass. The cardinals will break for lunch around 12:30 p.m. and return to the Sistine Chapel in the afternoon for more rounds of voting. They will pray together in the evening and return to the Santa Marta guesthouse for dinner. (There are only 120 rooms at the Santa Marta, so additional accommodation has been provided in a nearby residence.)

If there is no result after three days, the cardinals can take a day off for prayer and reflection.

Who is participating?

The cardinals, who are also the most senior members of the Catholic clergy known as the “princes of the church,” take part in the vote. Only those under the age of 80 are allowed to vote. Two of them have announced that they will not be present due to health problems. (Another cardinal, Angelo Becciu, convicted of fraud and embezzlement in 2022, will not participate.) The Vatican has confirmed that all 133 cardinals expected to participate have arrived in Rome.

More than 50 of the voting cardinals are European, most of them from Italy. Another 10 are from the US, 23 from Asia and 18 from Africa.

How does the voting system work?

Each cardinal is assigned a table, on which is a pen and a stack of ballot papers with the words “Eligo in summum pontificem” (“I elect as supreme pope”) written at the top. They write the name they want, fold the paper, and place it in a bronze container.

The ballots are counted and recounted before being pierced with a needle – via the word “eligo” – and tied into a bundle. They are then burned. If there is no result, chemicals are added to make the smoke black; if a candidate is elected, the smoke turns white.

Smoke is billowing through a chimney installed on the roof. Vatican firefighters are on standby in case of an incident.

As white smoke rises from the chimney, bells also ring, signaling to the crowd outside that "habemus Papam" - "We have a (new) Pope."

What happens to the new Pope?

The head of the College of Cardinals asks the elector: “Do you accept your election as Supreme Pope?” If he accepts, he must decide on his papal name. The cardinals will swear allegiance to the new Pope.

He will then be taken to the Chamber of Tears, where he will be stripped of his red cardinal's robes and dressed in the white papal robes. Usually, robes of different sizes (small, medium and large) are prepared. This time, it is thought that the Vatican is recycling robes from previous conclaves.

The new pope steps out onto the main balcony of St. Peter's Basilica to greet the crowd.

How long will the conclave last?

It can last from a few hours to weeks. The longest conclave in history, in the 13th century, lasted two years and nine months. Since the early 20th century, most conclaves have lasted two or three days.

If after 13 days of voting no one has reached a 2/3 majority, a vote is held between just the two leading candidates – but a two-thirds majority is still required to become Pope. If it is not decided, it is not known what will happen.

What's happening in the Vatican?

The Vatican has announced that it will cut off phone signals within the city-state during the conclave to elect a new Pope - excluding St. Peter's Square.

The office of the presidency of the Governorate of the Vatican City-State declared that “all telecommunications signal transmission systems for mobile phones located in Vatican territory … will be deactivated as of 3:00 p.m. on May 7. The signal will be restored after the announcement of the election of the Supreme Pontiff,” the statement said.

However, the deactivation will not include St. Peter's Square, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told reporters.


Në përputhje me standarded JTI

Video

SHIKO KANALIN NE YOUTUBE
×