The 115 cardinals participating
in the conclave will know the identity of the new pope before the rest
of the world, but their advance knowledge is likely to last for well
over an hour, and even more in the unlikely event that the candidate
they choose is not in the Sistine Chapel with them.
The last time cardinals in a conclave did not choose one of their
members was in 1378 when they voted for the archbishop of Bari, Italy,
who became Pope Urban VI.
The following is what should happen as soon as a candidate receives at
least two-thirds -- 77 -- of the votes and is elected the 266th
successor of St. Peter.
If he is not the one elected, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the
top-ranking cardinal elector, will ask the chosen cardinal, "Do you
accept your canonical election as supreme pontiff?"
The ritual handbook for the conclave and election gives no formula for
the candidate's response and gives no instruction for what would happen
if the person declined.
Instead, it says, "as soon as he receives the consent," the top-ranking
cardinal elector asks, "With what name do you want to be called?"
The master of papal liturgical ceremonies, Msgr. Guido Marini, a notary
and two aides serving as witnesses draw up an official statement of the
election and the name.
If the chosen candidate is not in the room, the top-ranking cardinal
calls a top official in the Vatican Secretariat of State, Archbishop
Giovanni Becciu, who "with great caution" and without letting the news
leak, must get the new pope to the Vatican.
If the candidate chosen is not yet a bishop, he is immediately ordained.
Only after the candidate accepts his election and is ordained, if
necessary, the ballots are burned with chemicals to produce white smoke
and announce to the world a successful election, said Jesuit Father
Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman.
The bells of St. Peter's Basilica will begin to peal, television and
radio stations will broadcast the news, Twitter feeds and other social
networks will pass the word, and tens of thousands of people in Rome
will run to St. Peter's Square.
The new pope goes into the so-called "Room of Tears," a small room
attached to the Sistine Chapel, and dresses in a white cassock and other
papal vestments.
Then there is a brief prayer ceremony in the Sistine Chapel with the
cardinal electors. The ceremony includes the reading of the words of
Jesus to Peter either from the Gospel of Matthew -- "You are Peter and
upon this rock I will build my church" -- or from the Gospel of John,
"Feed my sheep."
Each of the cardinals present in the Sistine Chapel comes up to the new
pope, paying him homage and promising him obedience, then they sing
together the "Te Deum" hymn of thanksgiving to God.
If he is not the one chosen, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the top-ranking
cardinal deacon, will go to the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica and
announce the election to the crowds in St. Peter's Square.
But before stepping out onto the balcony, Father Lombardi said, the new
pope will stop in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace to pray
briefly before the Blessed Sacrament.
Cardinal Tauran, or the top-ranking cardinal deacon after him, goes out
onto the balcony and tells the crowd, "I announce to you a great joy. We
have a pope ('Habemus papam')," saying the name of the one chosen and
announcing the name by which he will be called.
The new pope then comes out onto the balcony and gives his first
blessing "urbi et orbi" (to the city and the world) and usually gives a
short speech.
For the crowds in St. Peter's Square and for those watching on
television or listening on the radio, devoutly following the new pope's
blessing carries a plenary indulgence, Father Lombardi said. He did not
say if the indulgence applies to Twitter followers.