Vatican City 2013 papal election

[minionofmidas]

Sacrilege.

Sepp Ratzinger resigning, that is. Who does he think he is - Pietro del Morrone?

[minionofmidas]

Any idea if Super Delegate Benedict will be issuing an endorsement before the Conclave?

I doubt it. He's on experimental ground as is, any kind of politicking for a successor or, well, talking about his successor's policies he would probably consider as endangering the unity of the Church and damaging the Papacy.

[minionofmidas]

With the conclave scheduled to start 15 March, that means we're down to 116 cardinal-electors as not only will Lubomyr Husar reach age 80 by then, but so will Walter Kasper.

116 to 119 - Ratzinger could still appoint people to fill the vacancies (but not the Kasper one as that will only occur after he's left office.)

Then again, they could theoretically all die before 15th march, so 0 to 119.

[minionofmidas]

O'Brien even made it to the top half of the first page of BILD, with a picture! (Because they care about the papal election because Ratzinger is German...)

[minionofmidas]

My "money" is on a fairly drawnout conclave and a dark horse victory.

[minionofmidas]

The Papal Name chosen will be spoken in Latin, under the genitive case. If the new Pope takes the same name of the old Pope (that would be Benedict XVII), the Protodeacon doesn't speak the number.

Why is that?

[minionofmidas]

White smoke today or in tomorrow's first ballot is one in a hundred, folks.

[minionofmidas]

Well, until the white smoke arrives, all is guessing...

Actually, a sizable part of the papabili speculation to fill the papers is strictly speaking "lying" rather than "guessing".

[minionofmidas]

I wouldn't expect the conclave to go beyond Friday, though. That would project a huge sign of division, something the RCC has to avoid. If this goes beyond Friday, then things turned ugly.

I still think the decision will be made tomorrow, as long conclaves have basically disappeared over the last 100 years. 8 ballots is still my prediction.

Yes, tomorrow's later ballots or the day after is entirely plausible.

When this conclave's get leaked (it always happens, eventually) it will probably make for more interesting reading than last time.

[minionofmidas]

Alright, so I was wrong. What do I know, after all.

This probably means we get a horrible pope, too.

[minionofmidas]

The 5th ballot really seemed to take an eternity, here's why.

A recount? Or just dragging out the vote a little to convince the last few voters needed to make two-thirds?

[minionofmidas]

I think it took close to an hour last time for the announcement.

Yeah, I was looking for a time estimate just now and somewhere said "this evening" (it's half past seven here).

[minionofmidas]

He'd be better than the people most talked about, I think.

[minionofmidas]

Tender, I know he's from Vorarlberg in the sense that that's where his roots currently lie, but wasn't he born in Bohemia towards the end of World War II?

This is correct.

[minionofmidas]

OHHHH, it's 'Viva la Papa'.

"Long live the potato", in Spanish? I doubt it. "Viva il papa" maybe.

[minionofmidas]

Touron's out.

In more than one sense.

[minionofmidas]

First ever Jesuit pope. 76 years old and not in good health.

So... a short conclave but a dark horse victory. One out of two's not bad.

[minionofmidas]

Although it's somewhat surprising that no one used that name in the century's since Assisi.

[minionofmidas]

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That sounds like a Pope Francis I alright.

Now quick... since none of his name's Peter... someone link him to Rome in any way. Maybe his ancestors emigrated to Argentine from Lazio?

[minionofmidas]

I just realized he is the guy the anti-Ratzinger people reportedly coalesced around in the 2nd to 4th round of voting in 2005.

[minionofmidas]

I just realized he is the guy the anti-Ratzinger people reportedly coalesced around in the 2nd to 4th round of voting in 2005.

Apparently at the time he told them to stop voting for him and voted for Ratzinger himself.

You are, of course, not actually allowed to vote for yourself, though there's nothing to stop you.

(For a time, however, election required two thirds plus one vote to guard against that.)

[minionofmidas]

Looks the part.

I had been hoping for a Black pope on purely aesthetic grounds, actually. An old, lean Black man ought to rock papal whites.

[minionofmidas]

What are his positions on women ?

Generically against.

[minionofmidas]

In any case they're all rather socially conservative. It's part of the job description of being a cardinal.

While that is technically correct... You certainly couldn't call Karl Lehmann, the bishop of Mainz, a "social conservative" within the context of the German church, let alone the worldwide one.

And yes, he voted today.

[minionofmidas]

If the Daily Heil prints a story citing "a report it saw", I'm calling bullsh**t.

There are NO stronger proofs known to mankind that a story is false.