On Monday, 21 April, it was announced by the Catholic Church that Francis died in the Vatican Palace aged 88. His Holiness the Pope had been very ill for several weeks. Pope Francis spent over a month in the Gemini Hospital. Bulletins from his doctors hinted that death was imminent. It surprised many that he left the hospital in mid-April and returned home. This led some to surmise that his health had improved dramatically. In fact, he had been informed that he would die in a matter of days. Francis chose to die at home rather than in a hospital.
A doctor certified the pope dead. Then, according to tradition, a senior priest addressed him thrice by his name in Latin, ‘Franciscus, Franciscus, Franciscus!’ As the pope did not answer, the Catholic Church accepted he was dead. His face was covered with a white lace cloth. His fisherman’s ring is removed and broken.
Francis was born in Argentina to Italian parents. He was a citizen of both countries. His family were Catholic, like the great majority of both Argentines and Italians. His birth name was Jorge Bergoglio. When a man is elected pope, he assumes a new name. That is why Bergoglio was always known as ‘Francis’ as pope.
Bergoglio studied theology in Argentina. He was ordained a priest there. Catholic priests take a vow of celibacy: physical intimacy is forbidden. This is so that the priest is totally devoted to God and his church duties. A Catholic priest is addressed as ‘father’ even though he has no children.
Father Bergoglio, as he was known, had a sunny disposition and approachability. He was promoted to be a bishop and then an archbishop. An archbishop is in charge of the Catholic Church in an archdiocese, which is an area of hundreds of thousands of square kilometres and tens of millions of people. An archbishop will have thousands of priests below him.
There are roughly 100 cardinals in the world. The pope appoints the cardinals. Some archbishops are made cardinals, but most are not. After the pope’s funeral, the cardinals under the age of 80 gather in Rome. After the pope’s funeral, the College of Cardinals meets in the Sistine Chapel. It is an electoral, not an educational college. They debate who should be the next pope. This meeting is called a conclave from the Latin words ‘cum clavis’ meaning ‘with the key’. They are locked in and only allowed in the case of a medical emergency or a fire. They are allowed no unnecessary communication with the rest of the world: no phones, computers, newspapers or letters. This is so they are not swayed by outside opinion, nor are they distracted. They must hurry up and elect a pope.
People have been talking about the papabile, which is an Italian word for ‘popeable’ as in who is a serious candidate to be the next pope. Could it be Peter Turkson, who is from Ghana? If so, he would be the first black pope. Will it be a Filipino? Will it be a relatively liberal pope? Or will it be a traditionalist?
In theory, any Catholic man can be elected. In practice, for hundreds of years, the cardinals have elected one of themselves. They try to achieve a two-thirds majority. If they cannot achieve that, then they accept a simple majority in favour of one candidate. The deliberations of the conclave are secret. Cardinals swear an oath not to reveal what went on in the conclave. We are not officially told who the defeated candidates were or what was said, or how many votes were cast for each man or who voted for whom. But rumours leak out about the veracity of which cannot be confirmed.
The conclave can take a few hours or it can take a few months. The 2013 conclave and the 2005 conclave took 2 days in each case.
If they cannot agree on who should be pope, they burn their ballot papers. Black smoke rises from the chimney. When they succeed in electing a pope, white smoke rises from the chimney. The expression ‘white smoke’ has come to mean that a decision is about to be announced.
The Vatican tailors make three papal outfits: one for a small man, one for a medium-sized man and one for a large man. They do not know who will be elected, so they have to have three sizes available because the new pope could be any size.
When a pope is elected, a cardinal goes onto the loggia (balcony) of St Peter’s Basilica, Rome. St Peter’s Basilica is the largest place of worship in the world. The cardinal will address the crowd in Latin, saying: ‘I announce to you great joy. We have a pope! The most reverend and most eminent Cardinal (Name), who takes to himself the name (Name and ordinal number)’
The new pope comes out clothed in his papal robes for the first time. He usually addresses well-wishers in Italian. From 1528-1978, every single pope was Italian. After that, the popes who were elected had spent long enough in Rome to acquire the language.
The Vatican City is that area of Rome that is the HQ of the Catholic Church. The Vatican City is a sovereign country with its own army, postage stamps, currency, passports and embassies, but it only has 500 citizens and 0.5km square of territory.
There are three major Christian denominations: Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox. 55% of all Christians are Catholics. Catholicism is the main type of Christianity in France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and their former colonies. Therefore, from Mexico to Argentina, the great majority of people are Catholic Christians because these lands were Spanish colonies. In Africa, most Christians are Catholics. The majority of Indian Christians are Catholics because they were converted by the Portuguese or French. The British are mostly Protestant.
The Pope is the leader of the Catholics. They view him as God’s Viceregent on earth. Other Christian denominations do not recognise him as the leader but show him respect.
The first pope was St Peter, a disciple of Jesus Christ. No pope has ever taken the name ‘Peter’ since St Peter. Christians believe that Jesus gave authority to the disciples and said to St Peter ‘You are the rock on which I build my church. ‘Peter’ means rock in Greek. Catholics believe that Peter founded their church.
Moreover, the Bible has Jesus saying to St Peter, “I give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth is loosed in heaven.” Catholics believe this was Jesus Christ giving St Peter the authority to make and unmake rules. The flag of the Vatican features two keys: one silver and one gold. This is because Catholics believe that Jesus metaphorically gave Peter the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven.