On april 21st, on easter monday, pope francis died from a stroke that lead to heart failure at the age of 88. He was elected on March 13, 2013, he was known for his promoting social justice, unity and helping the poor. He was very humble, not having a flashy apartment and wearing his most simple clothes. The pope has requested in his will that he is to be buried in a “simple” tomb, at Rome’s Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore.
Now, what are the next steps to elect a new pope?
There are lots of set rituals for right after the pope dies, the first one is called the “novendailes” , the ritual that calls nine days of mourning for the pope. Next is the conclave, if you saw the movie “The Conclave” in 2024, its very similar to that. But, this time it isn't a movie. This is a very strict ritual where a group of people under 80 elected by the pope to choose the next pope, go inside the sistine chapel where the whole voting and electing takes place. They must meet at least 15 days after the death of the pope. They will stay in the Sistine Chapel without any phones or contact to the outside until a candidate has 3/4ths of the vote. The shortest Conclave took only 2 days, and the longest took almost three years.
When they haven't gotten 3/4th of the vote, they will burn the ballots and start all over again. The chimney of the chapel will release black smoke, telling the people that they still haven't gotten a pope yet. Though, once they have, white smoke will appear, telling people a new pope has been chosen.
I thought that this topic was very interesting and it's cool that they have such a strict ritual to choose the next pope, though it makes sense because; it's the pope. I thought that it would be good for people to know the next steps after the pope dies and I find it pretty interesting.
What are your thoughts about the process?
Is this something that interests you?
What are your thoughts about the pope’s death?
https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/21/europe/pope-francis-death-next-steps-explainer-intl/index.html
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/pope-francis-dead-what-happens-next-rcna128745
Replies
Great topic choice and summary Allyson. The issue is this was posted a week late and you didn't reply to any comments which is worth 30 points.
I think the process of getting a new pope can be really interesting and significant. It involves a lot of tradition and careful consideration, especially since the pope plays such an important role in the Catholic Church and its followers.
I think that the process is very traditional and means a lot to the catholic community. I think that the pope was very successful while he was Pope and hopefully the new Pope will be just as effective as the Pope.
The popes death isn't the biggest deal if you are catholic. Yes he is the one in charge of the catholic church, but nothing has really changed in the past 30 years in the catholic church. The process of selecting a new pope is strange I feel like the caridnals select a new pope to soon. The process should start a month after the popes death instead of half a month.
I think this process is stretched out way to far. I think there are way faster ways of doing this. I think that the popes death is a big topic becuase he has done a lot for the catholic people. It isnt a big topic that interests me. But i still believe the topic is way to long and that they should try to shorten it up in ways.
I like the process, it has it's own uniqueness to it. Although it is unique, it is also very lengthy and complex, the system could be boiled down to be much simpler and more effiecent. For the pope, I think his death was known to be coming, due to his age and his illness, although through this, he still showed to be strong.
I agree with you, I also like that they have a good selecion process, I also believe that others like this process as well. They might like it because it is old school and very accurate with many votes making sure that they gat the right canidate for the job.
I don't really know what to think about the process it seems like it is a long process that is just tiring and could be done faster. I think if they just voted or even had the catholics of the world vot that could be a better way of doing it. The process in my opinio just takes too long and i feel like it could be done in a few days.
I agree with you this would definitely help speed up the time it takes to get a new pope. And it would also make the process a lot simpler and easier to do. Although it would be hard to have Catholics around the world to vote.
You bring up a great point, about how this would speed up the time, although I don't think any change to the system will happen as it has been tradition for ages, and might come across as distastful to some if this old system what changed
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