| Papal conclave March 2013 | |
|---|---|
| Dates and location | |
| 12–13 March 2013 Sistine Chapel,Apostolic Palace, Vatican City | |
| Key officials | |
| Dean | Angelo Sodano |
| Sub-dean | Roger Etchegaray |
| Camerlengo | Tarcisio Bertone |
| Protopriest | Paulo Evaristo Arns |
| Protodeacon | Jean-Louis Tauran |
| Secretary | Lorenzo Baldisseri |
| Election | |
| Electors | 115 (list) |
| Candidates | Seepapabili |
| Ballots | 5 |
| Elected pope | |
| Jorge Mario Bergoglio Name taken:Francis | |
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← 2005 2025 → | |
Aconclave was held on 12 and 13 March 2013 to elect a newpope to succeedBenedict XVI, who had resigned on 28 February 2013. Of the 117 eligiblecardinal electors, all but two attended. On the fifth ballot, the conclave elected CardinalJorge Mario Bergoglio, thearchbishop of Buenos Aires. After accepting his election, hetook the nameFrancis.
The papal election process began soon after theresignation of Pope Benedict XVI on 28 February 2013. Since bothAngelo Sodano andRoger Etchegaray, thedean and vice-dean of theCollege of Cardinals, respectively, were ineligible to participate in the conclave due to age,Giovanni Battista Re fromItaly, the most seniorcardinal bishop under 80, presided over the conclave.[1][2]
In 1996,Pope John Paul II fixed the start date of the conclave at 15 to 20 days after the papacy became vacant inUniversi Dominici gregis. The 2013 conclave was initially expected to start sometime between 15 and 20 March 2013. On 25 February, the Vatican confirmed that Pope Benedict XVI issued his apostolic letterNormas nonnullas to allow for a schedule change.[3] This gave the College of Cardinals more latitude, once all of the cardinal electors had arrived in Rome, to start the conclave earlier or later.[4] They scheduled the conclave to begin on 12 March.[5]
Benedict XVI also amended the conclave law to provide for the automaticexcommunication of any non-cardinal who breaks the absolute oath of secrecy.[a]
 | |
|---|---|
| Region | Number |
Italy | 28 |
Rest of Europe | 32 |
North America | 20 |
South America | 13 |
Asia | 10 |
Oceania | 1 |
Africa | 11 |
| Total | 115 |
There were 207cardinals on the day the papacy fell vacant. Cardinals who were 80 years or older before the day the papacy fell vacant were ineligible to participate,[8][9] leaving 117 electors (includingWalter Kasper, who turned 80 between the day the papacy became vacant and the start of the conclave). Two of them were the first cardinal electors from their churches to participate in a conclave:Maronite PatriarchBechara Boutros al-Rahi[b][10] andSyro-MalankaraMajor ArchbishopBaselios Cleemis, the first bishop from the Syro-Malankara Church to be elevated to the College of Cardinals.[c][13]
Two cardinal electors did not attend the conclave.Julius Darmaatmadja from Indonesia declined to attend because of progressive deterioration of his eyesight.[14]Keith O'Brien, the only potential cardinal elector from the British Isles,[d] had been accused of sexual misconduct towards priests in the 1980s and said he did not want his presence to create a distraction. He had resigned asArchbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh on 18 February and later apologised for "sexual misconduct".[15][16] With 115 cardinal electors participating, the same number of electors as the2005 conclave, this conclave saw the largest number of cardinal electors ever to elect a pope, a number later surpassed by the2025 conclave; accordingly, the required two-thirds majority needed to elect a pope was 77 votes.
TheLos Angeles Times suggested that, though a pope from Latin America was unlikely, with only 19 of 117 cardinal electors being from Latin America, the region sought more say in the Vatican affairs, as it has the world's largest Catholic population. It citedsecularism and the rise ofEvangelical Protestantism in Latin America detracting from the Catholic faith, along with thesex abuse scandals inMexico,Brazil, andChile as issues important to the region.[17]BBC News said that, while the balloting was likely going to be hard-fought between different factions for a European or a non-European, an Italian or a non-Italian future pope, the internal differences were unclear,[18] and that many different priorities were at play, making this election exceedingly difficult to predict.[19] CardinalCormac Murphy-O'Connor, who was not an elector, remarked laughingly to a BBC presenter that his colleagues have been telling him "Siamo confusi"—"We're confused", as there were neither clear blocs nor a front-runner.[20]
One Australian commentator noted that the reform of the administrative machinery of the church, theRoman Curia, was a major issue, as there was no major progressive candidate, and indeed no clear front-runners, in the dynamic between the institutional-maintenance and evangelical Catholicism.[21] Giacomo Galeazzi ofLa Stampa said: "Apparently, a sort of tsunami of non-European candidates will fall upon the Roman Curia, and this could take the pontificate far away from Rome, making it more international."[22] Italian CardinalFrancesco Coccopalmerio said: "It's time to look outside Italy and Europe, in particular considering Latin America."[23]
The dossier of the Vatican's internal investigation into the so-calledVatileaks scandal was called "in effect ... the 118th cardinal inside the conclave".[24][e] Although the investigating cardinals (none of whom are cardinal electors) were free to discuss the results of their investigation with the participants of the conclave, the dossier itself was to be given by Pope Benedict XVI to his successor.[26]
CardinalVelasio De Paolis said that the presence of CardinalRoger Mahony, former Archbishop of Los Angeles, in the conclave would be "troubling", but he also noted that the said cardinal "has the right and duty to take part", and "the rules must be followed". Mahony's successor in Los Angeles, ArchbishopJosé Horacio Gómez, had recently rebuked Mahony for hishandling of sex abuse cases, though he too, supported Mahony's participation in the conclave.[27]
Although the conclave cardinals may elect anybaptized Catholic male,[28][29] the last time a non-cardinal was elected pope was in the1378 conclave.[30]Observers of papal elections tend to consider, by a variety of criteria, some cardinals to be more likely to become pope than others – these are thepapabili, the plural forpapabile, an Italian word loosely translated as "pope-able". Since the set ofpapabili is a matter of speculation from the press, the election of a non-papabile is not uncommon; recent cases areJohn XXIII in 1958, and bothJohn Paul I andJohn Paul II in 1978. This is reflected in the popular saying "He who enters the conclave as pope, leaves it as a cardinal."[31]
CardinalsChristoph Schönborn of Austria,[32][33][34]Odilo Scherer of Brazil,[34][35]Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines,Peter Turkson of Ghana,Marc Ouellet of Canada,Péter Erdő of Hungary,[36] andAngelo Scola of Italy were among the cardinals most often identified in press reports as those most likely to be elected.[37][38] Scola, in particular, was considered such a front-runner that theEpiscopal Conference of Italy had pre-drafted a press release concerning his election. However, Scola's ties to a corruption probe caused his perception by the fellow cardinals to decline drastically.[39]
On 9 March, CardinalAndré Vingt-Trois said there were around "half a dozen possible candidates".[40] The next day, CardinalPhilippe Barbarin said: "There are three, four, maybe a dozen candidates."[23] CardinalJorge Bergoglio of Argentina was seen as apapabile, though less likely (according to the public opinion) to emerge as pope.[23][41][42] One summary of the likely candidates included Bergoglio because he was "rumoured to be the (weak) second place finisher" in theprevious conclave but observed that "his 'moment' seems to be over".[42] In addition, Bergoglio was seen as an older choice; he was 76 at the time of the conclave, and older than the rest of thepapabili.
As soon as Benedict XVI announced his resignation, cardinals started arriving in Rome, and by the day the interregnum formally began, most of them had already arrived.[43] A formal invitation to the conclave was issued on 1 March.[25][44] The last of the 115 participating cardinal electors to arrive was CardinalJean-Baptiste Phạm Minh Mẫn of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, who arrived on 7 March.[45]
Gianfranco Ravasi of theRoman Curia, one of seventeen[46] cardinal electors with Twitter accounts, suspended his social media presence on his own initiative at the beginning of the interregnum, while others posted their reactions as they assembled.[f] The College of Cardinals later imposed a pre-conclave media and social media blackout, following leaks to the Italian press, which precluded some American cardinals from holding further press conferences.[49][50] Some cardinal electors researched one another online.[51][52][53]
The first of several "general congregations" was held on the morning of 4 March to organise the event.[54] TheSistine Chapel was closed to the public on 5 March in preparation for the conclave even before its date was set.[55] To control communication with the outside world during the conclave, aFaraday cage blocking all outgoing and incoming communications was installed in the Sistine Chapel area.[56] Contemporary media nevertheless gave journalists and other outsiders unprecedented access to this conclave.[57] Approximately 5,600 journalists were accredited to cover the event.[58]
The first congregation was held on the morning of 4 March and focused on introductory matters, picking three assistants to thecamerlengo, the recent Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization, and a suggestion for a message of appreciation to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Thirteen cardinals gave speeches in the order they had requested to speak. The second congregation was held on the evening of 4 March and featured the preaching of the first of the two required meditations by FatherRaniero Cantalamessa and nine more addresses.[citation needed]
The third congregation was held the morning of 5 March and featured 11 more addresses (all six continents had been represented at that time). The message of appreciation was sent, and the text of the guidelines for the conclave was read. Topics of discussion were: the activities of the Holy See in light of its relations with the world church's bishops, the course of the church's renewal after Vatican Council II, and the church's position in the world, especially regarding the New Evangelization. That evening, the Sistine Chapel closed and the furnaces were installed.[citation needed]
The fourth congregation was held on the morning of 6 March. TheLiturgy of the Hours was prayed and three cardinals with birthdays were congratulated, then 18 more speeches (limited to five minutes) were given. All but two cardinal-electors were present and had taken the oath. The church in the world today and the needs of the New Evangelization, the status of theHoly See and of the Roman Curia's dicasteries (its departments: the congregations, the courts, and the pontifical councils, commissions, and academies), relations with bishops, and expectations of a future pope, were discussed. That evening, a prayer service was held at St. Peter's Basilica.[citation needed]
The fifth congregation was held the morning of 7 March. Three new cardinal assistants to the camerlengo were chosen. A telegram of condolence forthe death of Venezuelan presidentHugo Chávez was then read. Three separate speeches, each done by one of the three cardinal presidents of the three economic departments of the Holy See, were then given. Then, 13 more speeches were given, especially onecumenism and the church's charitable efforts and attention to the poor, in addition to the topics from the previous meeting sessions.[citation needed]
The sixth congregation was scheduled for that evening. Some cardinals from the U.S. had stated in their interviews that the conclave might not begin until well into the following week, wanting the issues to be well-discussed. This also gave the non-Italian and non-curial cardinals the benefit of getting to know their Italian and curial counterparts, and especially their other colleagues worldwide, better, which may have lessened any disadvantage they may have had in voting.[59][60][61][62][63][64][excessive citations]
On 7 March, reporters were shown images of preparation work, including the installation of the chimney.[65] Cardinal Phạm Minh Mẫn was able to join the other 114 participating cardinal electors for the sixth general congregation the evening of 7 March. Seven more cardinals spoke; all 115 participating cardinal electors were present.
On 8 March, Lombardi announced that the cardinals would meet later that day and then announce the date for the start of the conclave, which they then set for 12 March. On 8 March, 153 cardinals, including all 115 participating electors, attended the seventh general congregation, where the cardinal dean announced that Cardinals Julius Riyadi Darmaatmadja and Keith O'Brien would not be joining the conclave despite being eligible to vote.[citation needed]
Having met the conditions set for beginning the conclave, the cardinals chose CardinalProsper Grech to give the meditation at the beginning of the conclave. Eighteen cardinals spoke, bringing the total number of interventions to over 100. In light ofInternational Women's Day, one speech was about the role of women in the church. Other topics added in this session were:interreligious dialogue,bioethics, the church's role in promoting justice in the world,collegiality in the church, and the need for the church's evangelisers to proclaim the Gospel.[5][66][67]
On 11 March, the day before the conclave, the non-cardinal officials, support staff and other non-voting personnel who had duties during the conclave took the oath of secrecy in the presence of CamerlengoTarcisio Bertone as prescribed inUniversi Dominici gregis as modified byNormas nonnullas.[68][69][70][71][72] Among those taking the oath were the secretary of the College of Cardinals ArchbishopLorenzo Baldisseri[g] and the master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations MonsignorGuido Marini.[70][71][72] Msgr. Marini himself led the oath takers in reading the oath out loud.[70][71] The oath bound them to absolute secrecy on anything they observed during the conclave pertaining to the new pope's election unless they were explicitly granted special faculty by the new pope or his successors.[69] The oath also bound them to refrain from using any audio or visual recording equipment and recording anything pertaining to the papal election during the conclave. The penalty for breaking the oath was automatic excommunication.[69] The non-electors took their oath in Italian and in thePauline Chapel.[70][71][72]
On Tuesday, 12 March, the cardinals present in Rome, both voting and non-voting, gathered in St. Peter's Basilica in the morning to concelebrate the Masspro eligendo Pontifice (lit. 'for the election of the Pontiff'). The dean of the College of Cardinals,Angelo Sodano, was the principal concelebrant and gave the homily.[73] In the afternoon, the 115 cardinal electors assembled in thePauline Chapel and walked in procession through theSala Regia into theSistine Chapel chanting theLitany of the Saints.[74] After taking their places, theVeni Creator Spiritus ("Come, Creator Spirit") was sung.[74] The oath was read aloud by the presiding cardinal,Giovanni Battista Re,Cardinal Bishop of Sabina-Poggio Mirteto, the most senior cardinal in attendance. As at the previous conclave, they would swear to observe the norms prescribed by John Paul II's apostolic constitutionUniversi Dominici gregis. In addition, they would swear to adhere to the rules prescribed by Benedict XVI in February. Then, each cardinal elector in order of seniority placed his hands on the Gospels and made the affirmation aloud in Latin.[74][75]
Et ego [prænomen]Cardinalis [nomen]spondeo, voveo ac iuro. Sic me Deus adiuvet et haec Sancta Dei Evangelia, quae manu mea tango.
Translation:And I, [forename] Cardinal [surname], do so promise, pledge, and swear. So help me God and these Holy Gospels, which I touch with my hand.
While making the oath, several cardinals used the Latin forms of their names. The four cardinals from theEastern Catholic churches were distinguished by their attire.[h][74] CardinalAnthony Olubunmi Okogie of theLatin Church, the archbishop emeritus ofLagos, did not wear hismozzetta and was seated in a wheelchair through the procession and most of the proceedings but walked accompanied by an assistant and placed his hands on the gospels like the others when making the oath.[74]
MonsignorGuido Marini, thepapal master of ceremonies, called out the wordsExtra omnes ("Everybody out!"), and the doors of the chapel were locked to outsiders.[74][76] Once the doors were closed, the cardinal electors heard the second required meditation for the conclave, given by Cardinal Grech, who then left the conclave because he was not an elector. After the meditation, one ballot was taken.
Black smoke coming out of the Sistine Chapel's chimney indicated to the outside world that on the first ballot no candidate had received the required two-thirds of the votes cast.[77] According to several media accounts of the first vote, Scola and Ouellet led with roughly equal numbers of votes, Bergoglio was a close third, and the rest of the votes were scattered among several others.[78] According toLa Repubblica, Scola received approximately 35 votes to Bergoglio's 20 and Ouellet's 15,[79] while another account said that Scherer had shown strength.[23] Some cardinals later said that "When they woke up Wednesday morning, it wasn't clear to them they'd have a pope that night, and it was even less clear it would be Bergoglio."[23]
The two rounds of voting on the morning of 13 March 2013 proved inconclusive, and black smoke was again sent out.[i] Cardinal Scola's candidacy stalled going into Wednesday, and votes began to converge around the candidacies of Ouellet and Bergoglio. Sources report that, at some point, Cardinal Ouellet threw his support behind Bergoglio;[78] by the first afternoon ballot—the fourth ballot of the conclave—Bergoglio became the clear front runner. On the fifth ballot, the cardinal electors, wishing to show a unified front, voted overwhelmingly in favour of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, reportedly giving him at least 90 votes, with the remaining 25 votes going to the other cardinals.[23][clarification needed] CardinalSeán Brady reported that applause broke out during the tabulation when Bergoglio's count reached the 77 votes required for election.[23]
According to CardinalWilfrid Napier, when Bergoglio was asked whether he would accept his election, he said: "Although I am a sinner, I accept." He took the nameFrancis, in honour ofSaint Francis of Assisi.[81] He later said that, while Bergoglio was choosing his papal name, some cardinal-electors jokingly suggested he should choose either "Adrian" after the great reformerPope Adrian VI, or "Clement" out of revenge againstPope Clement XIV, whosuppressed the Jesuit order.[82][83] At the conclusion of the conclave, Francis gave his cardinal'szucchetto to ArchbishopLorenzo Baldisseri, the non-elector secretary of the conclave.[84][j]
At 19:06 CET (18:06 UTC), white smoke and the sounding of the bells of St. Peter's Basilica signalled that a pope had been chosen and shortly thereafter the Vatican web site was changed to say "Habemus papam!" ("We have a pope!").[86]
Cardinal ProtodeaconJean-Louis Tauran appeared on the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica andannounced the election of the new pope and his chosen name. Pope Francis appeared and asked the people to pray for him before he blessed the world, at which point the conclave concluded.[87][88][89][90]
A half-hour later, theTwitter account @Pontifex sent out a tweet that read "HABEMUS PAPAM FRANCISCUM".[91]
At 20:23 CET, theItalian Conference of Bishops released a statement erroneously congratulating Cardinal Angelo Scola of Milan on his election as pope. A corrected statement was released at 21:09 CET.[92] As cardinals described the voting process, carefully suppressing details so as not to violate their oath of secrecy, one offered this assessment that "Scola might have won" and "is obviously qualified to be pope", but there was "a very strong bias against the Italians". He added: "There was a sense that the Italians aren't up to the job anymore [sic]. They used to be so good, but lately they seem to have lost control of things."[23] Commentators nonetheless noted that the election of Bergoglio was favoured by the fact that he was anItalian Argentine and as such fitting multiple requirements that made him likely to have support from Italian cardinals looking for candidates outside of Europe.[93]
Pope Francis celebratedhis inauguration on 19 March 2013 and was installed as Bishop of Rome on 7 April.[94]
In October 2013, the Italian weekly magazinePanorama claimed that the United StatesNational Security Agency had targeted cardinals in the conclave for surveillance, including Cardinal Bergoglio.[95] An NSA spokesperson denied this.[96]
According to the Vatican expertGerard O'Connell, in the bookThe Election of Pope Francis, this would have been the results of the ballots:[97]
| Cardinals | Votes |
|---|---|
| Angelo Scola | 30 |
| Jorge Bergoglio | 26 |
| Marc Ouellet | 22 |
| Seán Patrick O'Malley | 10 |
| Odilo Scherer | 4 |
| Others | 23 |
| Cardinals | Votes |
|---|---|
| Jorge Bergoglio | 45 |
| Angelo Scola | 38 |
| Marc Ouellet | 24 |
| Others | 8 |
| Cardinals | Votes |
|---|---|
| Jorge Bergoglio | 56 |
| Angelo Scola | 41 |
| Marc Ouellet | 15 |
| Others | 3 |
| Cardinals | Votes |
|---|---|
| Jorge Bergoglio | 67 |
| Angelo Scola | 32 |
| Marc Ouellet | 13 |
| Others | 3 |
| Cardinals | Votes |
|---|---|
| Jorge Bergoglio | 85 |
| Angelo Scola | 20 |
| Marc Ouellet | 8 |
| Others | 2 |
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