Cardinals who choose Pope Francis’ successor will have a lighter time than many of their predecessors, who endured Spartan conditions and even locked in so long that some of them died.
Here are some notable papal choices over time.
Dove decides
In 236, the Christian community in Rome discussed potential papal candidates when a white pigeon landed on the head of a spectator, Fabian.
“On this everyone called as if they were moved by a single divine inspiration, eager and wholehearted, that Fabian was worthy,” according to Eusebius, a church’s historian of time.
The blessing was a mixed for Fabian, who died 14 years later a martyr, pursued by Emperor Decius.
Large clay
In the early church, Paver was elected by members of the priest and the Roman nobility, and the votes were filled with interference.
One of the most notorious choices was in 532 after Boniface II’s death, involving “large-scale bribery of royal officials and influential senators”, according to PG Maxwell-Stuart in “Chronicle of the Pope”.
In the end, an ordinary priest, Mercurius, was elected. He became the first pope to change his name to John.
In 1059, the Nicholas II Cardinal gave the only authority to choose pontiffs.
Unlock them
The idea of unlocking the Cardinals to encourage a quick decision that began in the 13th century the word Conclave comes from the Latin phrase, meaning “with key”.
In 1241, when the election pulled on, the head of Roma’s government locked the Cardinals in a fallen building and refused to clean the toilets or give doctors to those who got sick.
According to Frederic Baumgartner in his “behind locked doors: a story of the papal choice,” the Cardinals decided only one of them died and the Romans threatened to expel his corpse and make it make decisions.
After 70 days, they agreed on Goffredo Castiglioni, who became Celestine IV.
Three years
The longest conclave in history lasted almost three years after Clement IV in November 1268, held in the papal palace of Viterbo, near Rome.
From the end of 1269 Cardinals were locked in to try to reach a decision, and in June 1270 the frustrated rooms tore the roof taken off in an attempt to speed up things.
They were apparently inspired by a quip of an English cardinal that without the roof, the Holy Spirit could fall unobstructed.
Theobaldo Visconti was Pope Gregory X in September 1271.
Rations
In response to the chaos that led to his choice, Gregory X changed the rules and demanded that cardinals meet within 10 days of the Pope’s death and ordered their food to be reduced over time.
If there was no decision in three days, meals should only be reduced to one of the two traditional Italian main courses.
After five days, they would be cut back to bare bread, water and wine, according to John L Allen’s book “Conclave”.
The Cardinals were also prevented from drawing on their income during a conclave.
LEAMBED
Conclaves has been held for centuries in the Apostolic Palace and since 1878 in his Sistine Chapel.
Cardinals have previously slept in the Apostolic Palace, with cubicle erected with camp and a bathroom for every 10 voters, according to Allen’s “Conclave”.
The windows were sealed, but in 1978, when the conclement took place during a suffocating August, there was an almost riot of cardinals that required them to be opened.
John Paul II – elected in another monk in that year, in October – ordered the construction of $ 20 million Santa Marta Guesthouse on the Vatican’s ground, where Francis lived himself and where the Cardinals are now.
It has more than 100 guest suites and about two dozen single rooms. But also in the Conlamer there are the windows sealed.
Non-cardinals
Technically, any baptized man may become a pope, but the last non-cardinal chosen was the Archbishop of Bari, Bartolomeo Prignano, who became Urban VI in 1378.
Involving Pontiff
Not everyone is eager. The first words from Albino Luciani, when they became John Paul in 1978, were “May God forgive you for what you have done!”
He died 33 days later.
Champagne
In 1978, after appearing for the crowds of St. Peter’s square, John Paul II allegedly walked around and poured champagne to the Cardinals and sang Polish folk songs.
In 2005, Benedict XVI invited all the Cardinals to turn into dinner with champagne, and there were also songs, the late Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor remembered afterwards.
Shorter and shorter
The longest conclave in recent times was the one of 1831 that chose Gregory XVI after more than 50 days.
The longest in the 20th century lasted only five days (14 ballots) when Pius XI was elected in 1922.
In 2005, Benedict XVI was elected in just two days (four ballot papers) and Francis in 2013 also in two days (five ballots).
