Papal Conclave, 2005 - Papal Election Process For 2005

Papal Election Process For 2005

Presiding over the conclave was the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Ratzinger from Germany. Given that Ratzinger himself was elected Pope, the duty of asking if he would accept the election and what name he would adopt (duties normally performed by the Dean) fell, in accordance with the Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Gregis, to the vice-dean Angelo Sodano.

It fell to the Cardinal Protodeacon, Jorge Medina Estévez, to make the solemn announcement of the election of Cardinal Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI.

This was the first Papal election governed under provisions made by John Paul II in his Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Gregis, promulgated on 22 February 1996. According to tradition and declaration of the Camerlengo, Eduardo Martínez Somalo, Benedict XVI is the 265th Bishop of Rome, head of both the Latin Catholic Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches.

In a break with recent tradition, Universi Dominici Gregis provided that the cardinals were not to be locked under key in the Sistine Chapel precincts throughout the conclave. Instead they were to be lodged within the confines of the Vatican City State at the Domus Sanctae Marthae when not in session, where they did not have access to newspapers, television, radio, the Internet, or telephones for the duration of the election process.

Proceedings on 18 April began with a morning Mass for the Election of the Roman Pontiff (Latin Pro Eligendo Romano Pontifice). In the afternoon the Cardinal electors assembled in the Hall of Blessings in St. Peter's Basilica and from there went in solemn procession to the Sistine Chapel, where, after the singing of the hymn Veni Creator Spiritus, each cardinal took the prescribed oath. After these and other formalities for the start of the Conclave had been observed, Archbishop Piero Marini, Papal Master of Ceremonies, gave the traditional command extra omnes (everybody out). The doors were then locked, and the actual Conclave began. In accordance with the law, one round of balloting was held on that evening. Thereafter balloting was to continue until a new Pope was elected, on a schedule of two ballots each morning and two each afternoon. The ballot slips were to be burned at noon and 7 pm Rome time (10:00 and 17:00 UTC) each day. The traditional procedure is that smoke from this, in times past, reinforced by adding handfuls of dry or damp straw, emerged from a temporary chimney on the chapel roof as for a conclusive vote (white smoke) or an as yet undecided one (black smoke). The straw had since been replaced by chemically-produced smoke.

On 24 April, five days after Benedict XVI's election, he was ceremonially installed. Since Pope John Paul I, the historical Papal Coronation has been replaced by a simple investiture with the pallium and Papal Inauguration Mass. Many dignitaries of various countries, some of whom had attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II, also attended this function.