Latest / The Lila Rose Show / Pope Francis Has Passed Away: What Happens Now?

Transcript

Pope Francis Has Passed Away: What Happens Now? · The Lila Rose Show

• 0:00
  With the event of Pope Francis's passing, the world is now asking
• 0:03
  who will be the next Pope. I'm sitting down to discuss all
• 0:06
  things conclave with Father Ambrose.
• 0:08
  Christ, Father Ambrose. We are filming this with the
• 0:11
  anticipation that the Pope has potentially passed away.
• 0:14
  We don't want him to. We're praying for his health or
• 0:16
  he has chosen to resign. We're entering this new moment
• 0:19
  of Catholics everywhere in the cold, of Christians everywhere
• 0:22
  in the world watching. OK, there's going to be a new
• 0:25
  Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, Yes.
• 0:28
  Can you explain what that what this moment means and what's
• 0:31
  going to happen next? OK, so we call this this moment
• 0:34
  the city vacante the vacancy, the sea of Peter, the sea of the
• 0:38
  successor of Saint Peter the Bishop of Rome is vacant either
• 0:42
  because of Pope dies or because he resigns.
• 0:45
  And during the vacant sea, then we move to a couple of very
• 0:51
  important events. First of all, all the funeral
• 0:53
  rites, if the Pope should die, the, the mourning of the, the
• 0:58
  death of a Pope, his funeral and so forth.
• 1:01
  And in either case, whether because of his death or because
• 1:04
  of his resignation, what's called the conclave, the
• 1:07
  election of a new Roman pontiff, a new Pope, a new Bishop of the
• 1:11
  Diocese of Rome. So that moment is, as you say,
• 1:15
  an exciting one, an interesting one.
• 1:17
  It's a very ancient, it's the oldest way that someone ahead of
• 1:22
  state or head of a church is elected in, in Western
• 1:25
  civilization. This goes way, way back.
• 1:27
  Popes have been elected in, in a variety of ways by acclamation,
• 1:31
  acclamation of the of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, and
• 1:34
  sometimes also the lay faithful in union with them.
• 1:37
  That's very ancient or by in modern, in the modern case,
• 1:43
  right now we have what's called a conclave.
• 1:45
  So the College of Cardinals, that's about 136 men under the
• 1:50
  age of 80 can vote for the new Pope.
• 1:53
  So the contract. Up down vote or they put names
• 1:56
  on papers like. So they're, they're the word
• 1:58
  conclave is they're locked under key conclave.
• 2:02
  They're in seclusion, they're summoned to Rome within 15 to 20
• 2:06
  days of the death or resignation of a Pope.
• 2:08
  And they are sequestered the the Cardinals who are a voting age,
• 2:12
  that is men who are elevated to the dignity of a cardinal.
• 2:18
  They're usually bishops and they are if they are under the age of
• 2:23
  80 or turn are going or turn 80 just but it's complicated.
• 2:27
  Under the age of 80, they are able to elect the next Roman
• 2:31
  pontiff. They're sequestered away.
• 2:33
  They live in a part of the Vatican City State called the
• 2:35
  Casa Santa Marta, St. Martha's house where the where
• 2:38
  Pope Francis lived for all of his pontificate, and they vote
• 2:42
  in the Sistine Chapel, the famous Michelangelo.
• 2:45
  Michelangelo decorated Sistine Chapel.
• 2:47
  Who does? I'm sorry to interrupt, but who
• 2:49
  decides what the what what the ballots say I mean?
• 2:53
  Yes, it's it's where. Do the names come from of Who
• 2:56
  are the potential popes? And that they're voting on any.
• 2:59
  They can. Write on any Catholic man can be
• 3:03
  elected Pope, I think, I don't remember what, over the age of
• 3:05
  35 or something like that. Historically, in recent
• 3:07
  centuries, it's always been a member of the College of
• 3:10
  Cardinals. They vote, they elect, but they
• 3:12
  don't have to elect one of their own member.
• 3:15
  They they, as I said in in the last Millennium, always have,
• 3:20
  but they don't have to. And the this is all carefully
• 3:24
  the ceremonial around it and it's all carefully regulated by
• 3:27
  legislation that Pope's have made over the centuries.
• 3:29
  And sometimes they even change that Pope John Paul the second
• 3:31
  change some of the rules of the conclave to have 120 members
• 3:35
  voting. And so they, they pray,
• 3:39
  obviously, they discuss amongst themselves who would be a good
• 3:42
  candidate and so forth. And they have secret ballots and
• 3:47
  a man wins by a 2/3 majority of a secret ballot that's cast in
• 3:52
  the Sistine Chapel. It's very interesting they they
• 3:55
  can have up to three ballots a day.
• 3:57
  So they just keep voting until they get to 2/3 majority?
• 4:00
  Is that how that? Works it's yes, again, it's a
• 4:02
  little bit more complicated than that.
• 4:03
  They're they're called into the conclave.
• 4:05
  There are some masses and and sermons and so forth to prepare
• 4:07
  for that. Then the the door is locked.
• 4:11
  The master ceremonies says extra omens everybody else out and
• 4:16
  it's just the Cardinals there along with some people to feed
• 4:19
  them and care for them and so forth because they could be in
• 4:21
  there for a while. In centuries past, there have
• 4:24
  been vacancy vacancies of the Diocese of Rome for as much as
• 4:28
  two years. So part of them being
• 4:30
  sequestered away was well, we'll, we will make it
• 4:32
  uncomfortable for them to be there so that we can have a new
• 4:34
  Pope elected quickly. So it's usually some days, but
• 4:38
  sometimes it's months. As I said in the past, it's been
• 4:40
  even years, although that's very unusual and they each ballot,
• 4:46
  it's all in Latin. And basically that the cardinal
• 4:50
  processes up with his ballot before the altar in the city
• 4:53
  chaplain. He, he makes this oath every
• 4:56
  single ballot that's cast, basically saying I pledge before
• 4:59
  Almighty God that the man whose name I've written on this ballot
• 5:03
  is the one that I think with having considered this and
• 5:07
  before Almighty God is the one who should be the next Bishop of
• 5:11
  Rome. And he puts it on a patent.
• 5:12
  It's dumped into a large chalice.
• 5:15
  There's regulations about how they count them.
• 5:17
  So there's no cheating. A man can't vote for himself.
• 5:21
  It's all complicated and interesting.
• 5:22
  And they're writing the name. Or they write the name down.
• 5:25
  So, so and it could be any name. It could be, but as I said, in
• 5:29
  recent centuries it's always been amongst from amongst the
• 5:31
  College of Cardinals who are from all over the.
• 5:33
  World. So basically that group of 120
• 5:36
  Cardinals, they have to, they're effectively electing 1 of
• 5:39
  themselves, but they can't vote for themselves.
• 5:42
  And then 2/3 of the group has to choose.
• 5:44
  Yes, we agree with this, correct not.
• 5:45
  Simple majority. It's 2/3 majority.
• 5:47
  That's right. If after three days of
• 5:49
  balloting, they haven't elected anybody, it's interesting, by
• 5:53
  the way, before we get to that, those ballots are burnt in a
• 5:56
  stove in the Sistine Chapel and the chimney that comes up over
• 6:00
  to Saint Peter's Square. If the smoke is black, we have
• 6:03
  chemical ways of making the smoke black or white now.
• 6:06
  But if if the smoke is black, it tells the world, the city of
• 6:09
  Rome and the world that we have that that was a failed ballot.
• 6:12
  Meaning it didn't get to 2/3. 2/3 and then and then they, they
• 6:15
  keep doing that until the white smoke comes out, which is an
• 6:18
  indication that we have elected a new Pope.
• 6:20
  And then the whole city mobilizes and the Vatican City
• 6:22
  state mobilizes to see who that man is.
• 6:24
  Very sad. I was there for this at the
• 6:26
  death of John Paul the second in the election of Pope Benedict
• 6:28
  the 16th. It's a very exciting time in
• 6:30
  Rome. And that, that what, what were
• 6:35
  you asking? If if after three days of
• 6:37
  balloting they don't proceed to a valid election, then they
• 6:41
  stop. They pray some more.
• 6:43
  They have someone come in and preach to them to encourage them
• 6:46
  and, and sort of regroup. And they do that for three days.
• 6:49
  And so this could go on for some time.
• 6:51
  It's usually not so long, but very interesting, very important
• 6:54
  moment for the whole church, obviously, and for the whole
• 6:57
  world. OK, Father, who's your money on?
• 7:00
  For the next, have no idea. There's a there's a Roman,
• 7:03
  there's a that. Wouldn't that be beautiful?
• 7:04
  The beautiful Cardinal from Africa, so edifying and holy and
• 7:08
  good. That would be so cool.
• 7:09
  There's an expression in in Rome, in Italian that says a man
• 7:12
  who enters the conclave of Pope comes out of cardinal.
• 7:15
  So usually if there's someone who you think is going to be the
• 7:18
  Pope and goes in or he thinks himself to be the Pope, he's
• 7:21
  going to come out just a cardinal, not the Pope.
• 7:23
  So there's wonderful expressions about this in Roman culture
• 7:26
  about how this all works. And providentially Lila again,
• 7:31
  my conference and I put together a series of instructional videos
• 7:34
  about this, a wonderful series called 5 things Every Catholic
• 7:36
  Should Know about the Papacy. Amazing Father Hugh and I, who's
• 7:40
  a genius and a wonderful Norbertine confer of mine.
• 7:43
  He knows everything about everything.
• 7:44
  We we have set, we have sat down for five episodes of this this
• 7:52
  wonderful topic, beginning with what is a conclave and how does
• 7:55
  it work? To what is the papacy?
• 7:58
  Who is the Pope? What?
• 8:00
  What are the lay folks in the Church and all of us the
• 8:02
  faithful supposed to think about the Holy Father and so forth?
• 8:05
  Amazing, we will link that. Please do again.
• 8:07
  That's on the Abbott circle. And we will be praying
• 8:10
  especially for our new Holy Father.
• 8:11
  Yes, whoever he may be.