Mike
Humphrey wrote: |
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Hi, Fr. Francis —
I was listening to Fox News coverage
of the death of John Paul II, and one commentator
said that once they choose the next pope (by
two-thirds of the cardinals voting (pro: for
a certain cardinal) plus 1), he
can refuse the election.
If so, then it appears you could have a situation,
theoretically, where cardinals are elevated
to the papacy, but keep refusing the job.
- Could this situation occur?
Mike
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| { Could nominees to the papacy keep refusing to accept, effectively elevating the cardinals to the papacy? } |
Fr. Francis replied:
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Hi, Mike —
The election is not the only facet
of the election of the Pope.
The cardinal in charge comes after
the votes are tallied in favor of
a candidate, and he asks the candidate:
We will never know just how many
cardinals have said "no", for
whatever reason. A longer conclave
does not necessarily mean they could
not arrive at a candidate. Perhaps
one or two or more said "no".
- Would you want someone unwilling
to be our Chief-Shepherd?
- Or, is it that you can't even
imagine having a choice (no sarcasm
here)?
Remember the Council of Constantinople III (681). There
was not just one will in Christ — the
Divine Will.
The truth is that there
are two Wills in Christ, one Divine
and one Human. He "shares" the
one Divine Will in the Trinity but
His Human Will had to conform to
this Divine Will, i.e. "Nevertheless
not My will but Thine be done" (Luke 22:42).
- "Do you accept?", the
candidate is asked.
He is not Pope until he accepts.
Then he is asked:
Simple, but profound!
Pope John Paul the Great, pray for
us!
Father Francis
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Mike
replied:
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Hi, Fr. Francis —
I understand your answer but, theoretically,
if the conclave gets to "Day 20" and
no candidate has reached the (two-thirds +
1) votes needed, or has not accepted
the papacy, what happens?
- Is the "20-days" fixed,
or not?
Mike
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Richard
replied:
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Hi, Mike —
The requirement for a two-thirds
majority is dropped after the "20-day" period,
and a simple majority of cardinals
can elect the new Pope.
It's all spelled out in the Apostolic
Constitution below.
See paragraph 75.
75. If the balloting does not
result in an election, even after
the provisions of No. 74 have
been fulfilled, the Cardinal electors
shall be invited by the Camerlengo
to express an opinion about the
manner of proceeding. The election
will then proceed in accordance
with what the absolute majority
of the electors decides.
Nevertheless, there can be no
waiving of the requirement that
a valid election takes place only
by an absolute majority of the
votes or else by voting only on
the two names which, in the ballot
immediately preceding, have received
the greatest number of votes;
also, in this second case, only
an absolute majority is required. |
— RC
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