How would you like to have a job where 1.1 billion people
have a vested interest in the decisions you make and the direction you
set? Where world leaders from every
continent are cooperating or not cooperating as you try to influence the
spirituality of their people. A job that
was first occupied by one of Jesus Christ’s best friends. The head of one of the largest religions in
the world that is trying to maintain its sense of identity and purpose in an
ever changing world. This is the job of
the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church.
On February 28, 2013, the Catholic Church enters the time of
Sede Vacante, meaning “the chair is empty”.
Sede vacante represented the time between Popes. Unlike the government of the United States,
which is never without a president, the Catholic Church will have a period of
at least 15 days without a leader. Even
as I am writing this, the Vatican is awaiting the remaining 5 Cardinals to join
the other 110 to begin Conclave.
Prior to Conclave the College of Cardinals may have some pre-meetings
to get to know one another and discuss the needs of the Catholic Church in
2013. Once Conclave begins the entire
process is top secret. Construction is
underway on the Sistine Chapel to install a false floor to hide anti-bugging
devices, the installation of stoves to burn the ballots each day, and insure
all accommodations are in place for the Cardinals.
The 115 Cardinals are sworn to secrecy during Conclave. They will be taken to and from the chapel by
bus and stay sequestered during the process.
They will not have access to the news, internet, or any other
communication device.
On the first day one vote is allowed. Each Cardinal writes the name of the person
they select on a slip of paper. The
votes are tallied. If someone receives
two-thirds of the votes, they are asked if they would accept the position, what
name they choose, and the ballots are burnt, sending white smoke through the
chimney to notify the world of the new pontiff.
If no one receives the required two-thirds, debate, voting and prayer
continues. Up to four votes may be
conducted each day. There is no limit to
the amount of time the Cardinals may take to decide the next Pope. That being said, no Conclave has gone over 5
days since 1831. It took the College of
Cardinals 3 days to decide on Pope Benedict.
While any single, Catholic male is eligible to become Pope,
more than likely the man chosen for the position will be one of the 115
Cardinals. While there is not a clear
cut favorite, many are expecting one of the following to be next in line:
Cardinal Peter Turkson from Ghana
Cardinal
Angelo Scola from Italy
Cardinal
Marc Ouellet from Canada
Cardinal
Tarcisio Bertone from Italy
Cardinal
Angelo Bagnasco from Italy
Cardinal
Leonardo Sandri from Argentina
What do you
think of the process to elect the Pope?
What qualities do you think are necessary to be a good choice for the
Catholic Church? What do you think are
some of the biggest issues facing the Catholic Church and the next Pope?
Jacob_I think that the way the cardinals elect a new pope is very good. They can't have any outside influence while they are in the conclave and they have to make the best decision they can while they are in meeting. I also think it is good that they have the white smoke and black smoke so that people will know when to go to St. Peter's square and not have to wait a long time until the pope is suddenly announced. I think to be the leader of such a big amount of people you have to be extremely strong in the mind. The stress of that position is tremendous. I think that some of the biggest issues facing the next pope is third world hunger. People everywhere are starving and I think that the catholic church and the pope should help out with that.
ReplyDeleteAaron-I think that the process to elect the Pope is very well thought out and that it is very well done. I think that the idea of sort of having them locked up is very good because it doesn't let any information out of who the new possible Pope might be. I think that to be Pope you must be FULLY devoted to the Catholic church and be willing to give your life to it and God. I think that the Church is very strong as it is. But I also think that there is TONS of pressure on the new pope and who it will be.
ReplyDeleteMatea- I think that it is very long but it is worth it in the end. I think that some good qualities for the Catholic Church is a very religious person but also someone that can understand political views. Obviously someone that will turn towards God ot help somone. An understanding, nice, caring, and gentle person. Conflics with many different contries and their views on how the Church should be may be and issue that the Pope could encounter. And other bad problems in the world like starvation, illnesses, and education may affect the Pope in a way.
ReplyDeleteJackie- I think that the process is very high stress and a lot of work. It seems very long and tedious to keep voting over and over again and again. I think that we need a Pope who is in tuned with modern problems. I think that he needs to be patient and kind, but also lead with a strong hand. He can't let people over ride him, but he can't be bossy either. He has to love like christ and forgive. He also needs to have the mind set that issues need to be fixed today, not tomorrow. I think he is going to have issues with the scandals that have been rising up in the church. I think it will be a sticky situation. Also, he will have to deal with people leaving the church. He will need to reconnect people to the church and renew their faith.
ReplyDeleteGabi- I think that they way we elect the pope is smart. I think that it's smart that all of the cardinals get together to vote on the pope and the new pope must get 2/3 of the vote. I also like how they burn the votes and you can tell by the smoke if they chose a pope or not. I think that to be the pope you have to be truly dedicated to God and know a lot about your faith. The pope should also be a very kind person and a good leader who is able to lead our church. I think that some of the problems our church faces with electing a new pope is that the pope needs to be young and able to lead our church. They also need someone who truly believes in their faith and will give up everything to become the new pope. Because being the pope is really hard. Your the leader of over a million people and that is a lot of pressure.
ReplyDeleteEmma Sabala- I think that the process of electing the pope is a very well thought and smart process, but at the same time I can't imagine how much stress comes along with it. I think that all of the steps are great and like how they put in a lot of thought on who to choose for going to the next step until they become pope. I think that in order to be Pope you have to put forward 100% and know that it is what you want to do. I think that you also need to know that your love is with God and know everything about your faith. I think that one major problem is the starvation going on around the world. The more people stepping forward and helping out with that, the more it is getting better and I think the pope would be a huge help with that.
ReplyDeleteConor - I think that the way they select the pope is good. The two thirds rule makes sure that the pope will be a good leader because he will have a bunch of people who think hes the right choice behind him. If we chose the Pope by who had the most votes and the minimum wasn't two thirds I think that we wouldn't have as good of popes because people wouldn't be so sure he was the right choice. I think to be a good pope you have to be clear minded in what direction that you want to take the church in. You also have to be a good listener while being able to take charge. An issue that the new pope might face is bringing the church together. Different countries have different ways of thinking about religion. The new pope has to bring them together so the Catholic Church thinks as one. I am excited to see who the new pope is going to be and what he is like.
ReplyDeleteNIKO
ReplyDeleteI think that the way the pope gets selected is better than them getting elected like the president does. So people chosen by God to be leaders get to make the decision, and not people that may not even pay attention to the religion up until it was the time to vote. But i think one day somehow the poles are going to get rigged by someone. Up until that point this is a great way to vote. The most important quality to be a pope is the ability to not allow people to influence your desicion on something and they have to be a good strong leader. One thing wrong with the pope leaving early is that he might have set a precedent where all popes may leave early.
Abby: i think electing a pope is very good and the people take a long time thinking about who they are going to elect and they know in there heart its the right one. some good qualilites to be chosen for the Catholic Church is that you have to be willing to put everything aside for the world. you have to be loving, caring, and helpfull. you have to be one hundred percent commited and you have to know that you were ment for this job even though it is a lot of work. some issues of the Catholic Church choosing the nexty pope is that nobody really wants to be a pope because the whole world is counting on you and if you mess up everyone will know. it is a lot of pressure. and i think one of the biggest issues is, is that Catholics are not as high in the world as they used to. it will also take a long time to chose. it can last up to days week months and years deciding who the next pope it.
ReplyDeleteEmma G- I like the process of electing the pope, but i no if i was doing it, i would hate it! I think it is good, because everyone has to decide on one and you get time to think about it, but if it was me, i would want it to be fast. I think that, to be a pope, you need to be patient. Its going to be a very stressful job! I think bigger issues facing this next election in our world, has to be illness, homelessness, and starvation. I think that the church could help out alot in those things.
ReplyDeleteKordell Seidler
ReplyDeleteI like the process how we elect the next pope. But it takes a very long time to chose the next pope. But this way is a lot better than choosing a president. When you are chosen by a pope you are chosen by God. If you are a president you are chose by the people of the US. One really good quality is that you have to be fully devoted to the catholic church. The popes job is very stressful in my eyes but it seems really fun. I think the biggest issue is that since the Pope Benedict resigned that would say to the next pope that they can resign too.
Peter- I think that the method the cardinals use to elect the Popes is a great process of election. I think some qualities necessary are honesty, loyalty, modesty, and generosity. Also, you have to be fully committed to being a good leader of the Catholic Church. I think the biggest difficulty facing the Pope and the Church is finding the right man for the job, as well as finding a person who won't be too stressed out about leading 1.1 billion people.
ReplyDeleteSena- I think the process of becoming the pope is too extensive. Yes, they do need to be sure they pick a good person, but it has taken up to three YEARS to elect a new one. I think that our pope should be honest, polite, outspoken, helpful, generosity, and even fun! There are many difficulties in choosing the new Pope for the Catholic Church. Some include a person who will take control. They can't be shy and they need to be willing to do the job. I understand that many candidates do not want to be the pope because of how many peoples lives are in their hands. The biggest difficulty will be finding someone ready to do this....
ReplyDeleteBelle- I think the way they elect a pope is very traditional and well thought out. Everything they do the have been doing for a long time and have a reson for everything they do. I think they will have to overcome all the obstacles that everyone throws at them. They have to try to make everyone happy which is almost impossible. So much pressure is resting on their shoulders and they have to be strong and not break under all the pressure
ReplyDeleteDillon - I think that the process that which you become a pope is very foolproof. I also think that it takes a little too much time. Some of the qualities that are necessary to pick a pope faith, honesty, prayfulness, and thoughtfulness. I don't think that there will be very many issues, but I think that there may be a few. some of these are someone who is pick say no or not find the right guy.
ReplyDeleteVincent~
ReplyDeleteI think that the process to become a pope is very long and well thought out but a little too much. I think that the pope should be kind, honest, well liked, smart, have integrity, be determined, and know what to do. The Catholic Church might have a particular person or particular race of person that they might want to be elected and if they arent then they might get mad with the church and not think that the pope should be there leading the church. Also a pope might get elected that is bad or dishonest and do things wrong that will hurt the church and maybe some of the people in the church community.
Catie-I think that the process to elect a Pope is very long and must be boring for the Cardinals. I couldn't imagine sitting in a room for that long locked up! I think that in order to be a good Pope, you have to be caring, listening, and religious. I think that some of the biggest challenges will be picking the right Pope and having a fair vote.
ReplyDeleteAmaia- I think that it's great that even though the world is inivating and becoming more modern, that the tradition of how the church picks a new pope has stayed the same. I think the new pope should be a very likable person and his main interests should be the concern for his people and their souls. Some problems that the new pope will have to deal with is all the people in Europe leaving the Catholic Church, also there has be quite a few scandals in the church with priests and clergy and that has had an effect on the church's repuation, so he will have to try to clear the air of that.
ReplyDeleteRaphie- I think that the tradition of electing the Pope is a very long and outdated process. Even though it may be outdated and can take forever to elect a new Pope it has seemed to stay alive and is used to this very day.I think that the qualities that one needs to be a good pope is those qualities that show kindness and compassion like mercy, but also being the pope you must be fearless and be willing to do anything for your faith and your flock. I think that some of the challenges that face the new pope and the church are the sheer amount of scandals that occur in the church from day to day.
ReplyDeleteDan- I think it is the process of the pope being elected is fine and it is great that the cardinals are voting. I like how it has to be 2/3 of the votes for someone to be pope and it would be a disaster if our whole entire world had to vote for pope. i think the qualities you have to have is a positive person, a leader, able to take sacrifices, nice, loves God, Catholic cares for others, have to have a strong mind and know when to do the right thing, and have to be the best example to others. I think the issues the next pope have to face are all the scandals going on in the Church and he has to bring the Catholic Church back up.
ReplyDeleteNatalia- I think the process is good because it really gives the cardinals time to really think about who they want as their new pope. It takes awhile but i think the time is worth it because if it was really quick then they probably would not vote on a very good pope that is best for us. I think some qualities are being honest, knowing alot about the church and its hitory, knowing what the Catholic people want and just knowing what decisions are the right ones to make. I think some of the issues will be that there are kind of two popes and one doesnt make any decisions he will just be there. I think some other issues will be all the bad things that happen in the church all over the world.
ReplyDeleteKatie H.- I think that the process of voting for a pope is a pretty good way to do it. It sounds equal and fair. I think to be the pope you should be a person with good morals, honest, humble, and a person who doesn't take advantage of their power. I think over all that they should have good leadership skills. I don't think that you should have to be a cardinal or have any high ranking in the church. Even though a common Catholic male can become pope, I don't think they really give them much of a chance. I think the problems the pope will face today is with technology because it is evolving so quickly and can do good things and can also be used to sin.
ReplyDeleteTaylor- I like the way the Pope gets elected. I like how the cardinals are locked in a room so there isn't any outside influence on who the Pope should be. I think the necessary qualities to become Pope would have to definitely be amazing leadership and the ability to not break down and give up when it seems like the whole world is against your decisions. If the people of the Catholic Church are unhappy with the choices of the Pope, he should be able to work things out. An issue that the new Pope might have to deal with is calming everybody down about Pope Benedict resigning and reassuring them that he will try his best to be the best Pope he could possibly be.
ReplyDeletei think that it is just a big show, the smoke and the thousands of people waiting are not nessesary at all. it just looks like they are trying to show off thats all.some good qualities are humor, i think that the pope cant just cause a nice conversation but connect with the people and get to know them.another nice quality is making reasonable choices, not going to far outside the box and staying within limit. i think that an issue that might accure has to be gay marriage, people will allways argue on the statment that if god made them like that then why cant they join in the selebration of god.((CODY))
ReplyDeleteRyan- I think that the process electing a pope is well thought out it makes sure they pick the right pope and that it stay with in only the cardinals until they want the world to know. I think that the qualities need to be pope are need to be have a good relationship with God( which almost every cardinal dose). Need to be comfortable speaking to large crowds also in different languages. I think some of the issues with selecting a pope is that they Vatican is in a bad condition and he is going to need to pick it back up and fix it soon. which . I believe that he will be able to do just that.
ReplyDeleteOzzy Worrell- I think the process is great because chosing the new pope goes with what we believe in. I think some good qualities for a new pope is that he is nice he seems that way, he is funny, kind' caring. He also need a strong, well balance relationship with God. Some of the issues that the catholic church facis is that the relious leaders are all wuond up in the election of the pope that they ( we also kind of do this) forget to live and see what the people need to do and see trulely.
ReplyDeleteStephanie- I think the process in electing a new pope is good. I think that it is a good thing that the cardinals do notget influenced by the media. I also think that it is good that they take the time to select a new pope. They dont just vote out of popularity. Picking a new pope can be very stressful. They have to make sure that they pick the right person to fill the spot of the next pope. I think the next pope needs to be an intelligent man with thoughts on ways to help the church. im not really sure what the church needs to do in the world right now, but that is a good question for the future pope.
ReplyDeleteCcatie- I think that the ban is a little over-the-top. But at the same time I am happy to see that someone cares enough about the health of citizens to do that. I think that Mayor Bloomberg is over-extending his power a little too far. People have the right to put whatever they want into their bodies but I do want something to be done about the amount of unhealthy things they put in. I think that obesity is definitely a big problem in our country. It's embarrassing to see how obese people in America are. The government should try to help fix this problem but by doing baby steps, not a giant leap like banning soda.
ReplyDeleteCaleigh- I find it tedious and redundant. I think that you have to be honest and =have a point of view from all different types of religions to kinda see where they are coming from to get your own religion. I think birth control, gay marriage and the church becoming more and more modern.
ReplyDelete