“His office let another take.”
St. Peter, our first Pope, quoted Psalm 109:8 to his fellow apostles after the Ascension as they appointed a successor for the position of Judas, the betrayer (Acts 1:20). Jesus had given the apostles his own authority, commanding them to baptize, celebrate the Eucharist in his memory, forgive sins, exorcise and heal. The Gospels do not record any plan for apostolic succession, but we know from the election of Matthias in Acts 1, using the same lots that determined the service of Jewish priests, that the apostles immediately embraced the necessity of drawing others into their ministry to perpetuate it until Christ would come again.
As we mourn the death of Pope Francis and commend his soul to God, we also must begin praying for a worthy successor to the ministry of Sts. Peter and Paul, the chief apostles, whose martyrdom in Rome made the eternal city the center of the Catholic Church. St. Irenaeus lists early popes in his great work, Against Heresies, written in the 2nd century, testifying to the unbroken succession of Rome’s bishops.
The election of popes, however, has developed over two thousand years, morphing from a local affair to one with global involvement and consequence. The Papal Conclave is less than a thousand years old, but it preserves the essence of the original method with expanded participation from the universal Church.
History of the Papal Conclave
Bishops in the ancient world were elected by local clergy, with the people giving or withholding their assent through acclamation. This eventually developed into a group of priests, known as canons, who served at the cathedral and acted as the electors of bishops. This is also how the role of the cardinals emerged in Rome, with the key clergy of the diocese of Rome and the surrounding region—deacons, priests, and bishops—fulfilling crucial roles and participating in the election of the pope.
It was not until the 12th century that clergy from outside the region of Rome were appointed Roman cardinals, eventually drawing in important bishops from throughout Europe. These cardinals, however, were appointed to titular churches, preserving the ancient custom of election through local clergy. Almost always, the cardinals would elect one of their own as pope, with a few exceptions throughout history.
The word “conclave,” meaning “with key,” points to the gathering of cardinals who eventually needed to be locked up together to reach a timely decision. With an international body of electors, political factors inevitably made their presence felt. In fact, for centuries, the Roman Emperors (situated in Constantinople) approved the election of popes, and later Holy Roman Emperors often made their will known to electors (and occasionally imposed it forcefully). Cardinals often represented national interests and could even wield a veto on behalf of their monarch to be exercised once in each conclave, with the last being used in 1903 during the election of Pope St. Pius X (who then abolished the practice). To cut through political maneuverings and delays, cardinals would be locked into a room (eventually the Sistine Chapel) with limited food in order to make a timely decision without outside interference.
As spiritual head of Christendom, the election of the Pope carried enormous ecclesial and political consequences and hefty incentives for potential candidates. Unfortunately, contested elections and underhanded tactics often occurred, which is why strict rules were developed over time.
After a dispute, the Lateran Council of 769 decreed that only cardinal-priests and cardinal-deacons could be elected pope. Nicholas II’s 1059 bull, In nomine Domini, marked a watershed moment in regulating the gathering of cardinals in Rome and concentrating cardinal-bishops’ powers in the election. After the longest interregnum in Church history, Pope Bl. Gregory X established the Papal Conclave in 1274, giving lasting shape to the procedures for election (despite some bumps later that century). The College of Cardinals was much smaller at that time, fluctuating anywhere between 7 and 30 for centuries, until gradually growing to its current size of 120 electors (although we currently have 135). Paul VI initiated a major change in 1970 by barring cardinals over the age of 80 from voting.
The conclave is not a sacrament; it’s not even of divine institution. Its history typifies how God governs the Church indirectly, calling forth our cooperation. God does not directly appoint bishops, including the pope, and the Church’s methods have changed through the centuries, adapting out of necessity.
This is why proper cooperation with God’s grace is so important, because it’s easy to fall into worldly ways of thinking, factionalism, and ambition. The cardinals invoke the Holy Spirit for guidance, and they need it, for they are the ones who bear the great responsibility of choosing the proper candidate. If they are open to the movement of the Holy Spirit and discern properly, we can say that God guides the outcome.
We know all too well from history, however, that the opposite can also happen. God always directs and works through his Church, and, even when unworthy candidates are appointed, he ensures that all things work for the good despite our own failings.
Even if we’re not permitted to enter the Conclave after the “extra omnes” is proclaimed, we, too, can participate through prayer, becoming cooperators in this important decision. The faithful often gather for conclaves to surround the cardinals with their prayer, and the appearance of the new pope on the balcony continues the ancient role of the faithful in making their acclamation.
Prayer and penance truly can make an impact. We should embrace penance, asking for the Lord, in his mercy, to give us a shepherd after his own heart. A holy Church, faithful to her mission, requires the generous cooperation of leaders and the faithful alike.
The 2024 film Conclave came out just in time to capitalize on the anticipation of the expected papal election. In terms of understanding the nature of papal conclaves, however, it flopped. Its key line, “The Church is what we do next,” represents a mundane view of how the Church operates.
“The Church is what Christ does next,” we might say in response, and it’s up to us to cooperate with his plan. That part is not guaranteed, for the Church always needs reform, an interior renewal that requires a response from everyone in the Church, clergy and laity together. What we do next can determine how much we allow Christ to act in and through us to bring about his most holy will.
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“God does not directly appoint bishops, including the pope. God always directs and works through his Church, and, even when unworthy candidates are appointed, he ensures that all things work for the good despite our own failings”(Staudt).
Jared Staudt speaks wisely.
Except, perhaps that “he ensures that all things work for the good despite our own failings”. What if an intensely evil man is elected? Then Christ, it seems, would use that evil, which is not his doing toward a good end.
Thank you Jared and Fr. Peter. There is never a good reason to become schismatic. If the worst happens at the conclave, that is no excuse for any of us to leave Jesus Christ and His One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. “A schismatic is a fool.” St. Catherine of Siena (Said during a time of maximum papal confusion).
There is also no good reason to believe that a Cardinal who breaks the Commandments or teaches others how to circumvent them in practice has the Holy Spirit. Doubtless, such a Cardinal is an impostor. If he had prayed today, he would have read in his Office from the Acts of the Apostles:
“The God of our fathers has raised up Jesus whom you put to death, hanging him on a tree. He whom God has exalted at His right hand as Ruler and Savior is to bring repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. We testify to this. SO TOO DOES THE HOLY SPIRIT WHOM GOD HAS GIVEN TO THOSE THAT OBEY HIM.”
(Acts 5:30-32)
God’s Fool: Austin Ruse has a good article on this topic over at Crisis.
Thanks. Don’t disagree In principle but Ruse is too Opus Dei for me. Since St. Escriva escaped from Spain to France, they have been a crafty bunch: https://www.ncregister.com/cna/opus-dei-postpones-adoption-of-new-statutes
My concern is for the abused. Franciscus, may he rest in peace, was not all wet when he had a visceral response to rigorists:
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/apr/14/argentina-human-rights-women-opus-dei-catholic-church-exploitation-abuse-celibacy-trafficking-allegations
Noticed this very important conversation with Cardinals Müller today. It’s such a joy to hear from him at this time.
https://www.ilmessaggero.it/en/cardinal_muller_s_reflections_on_the_upcoming_conclave-8799569.html?refresh_ce
“God does not directly appoint bishops, including the pope. God always directs and works through his Church, and, even when unworthy candidates are appointed, he ensures that all things work for the good despite our own failings”(Staudt).”
Surely, such a time that would produce an “unworthy” candidate being elected as a Vicar of Christ, would be a warning to Christ’s Church , that the time of The Great Apostasy is at hand.
“Penance, Penance, Penance.”
“Behold your Mother.”- Christ On The Cross
https://catholicism.org/heavens-icon.html
“It is not possible to have Sacramental Communion without Ecclesiastical Communion”, due to The Unity Of The Holy Ghost(Filioque),for it Is “Through Christ, With Christ, And In Christ, O God, Almighty Father, In The Unity Of The Holy Ghost (Filioque), that Holy Mother Church exists. To deny The Unity of The Holy Ghost (Filioque), is to deny The Divinity of The Most Holy And Undivided Blessed Trinity, Father, Son, And Holy Ghost.
Apostasy is what Apostasy does.
“Behold your Mother.”- Christ On The Cross
“Penance, Penance, Penance”.
Dear Blessed Mother Mary, Mirror Of Justice And Destroyer Of All Heresy, Who Through Your Fiat, Affirmed The Filioque, and thus the fact that There Is Only One Son Of God, One Word Of God Made Flesh, One Lamb Of God Who Can Taketh Away The Sins Of The World, Our Only Savior, Jesus The Christ, thus there can only be, One Spirit Of Perfect Complementary Love Between The Father And The Son, Who Must Proceed From Both The Father And The Son, In The Ordered Communion Of Perfect Complementary Love, The Most Holy And Undivided Blessed Trinity (Filioque), hear our Prayer, ✝️💕🙏
We read: “God always directs and works through his Church, and, even when unworthy candidates are appointed, he ensures that all things work for the good despite our own failings.”
“All things work for the good…” And, yet, the Holocaust happened. The “mystery of iniquity (2 Thes 2:7)” is more serpentine than linear. Here, a bit of History, and two Comments:
FIRST, about the big screen of history, one commentator on St. Augustine paints this sobering and non-progressivist picture:
“St. Augustine opened the sphere of history to teleology. There is a design in history, even though individuals have not intended the result accomplished. Historians are always talking as if the sequence of historical events were meaningful, are they not? For example, here comes the philosophical enlightenment of the eighteenth century, that, of course, was the intellectual preparation for the French Revolution; and that in turn was the basis for the appearance of Napoleon, who became, with his arms, the means of spreading the revolutionary idea throughout Europe. And that, again, was the basis for the resurgence of nationalism in Germany and Italy—and so on. But the question is, was the Enlightenment aiming at the Revolution? Did Voltaire want the Revolution? Obviously not. Did the Revolution plan Napoleon? Obviously not. Read the records of the Revolutionary Conventions. And did the France of Napoleon want the rise of the various nation-states—Italian, German? You can answer for yourself” (Dino Bigongiari, “The Philosophical and Political Background of The Divine Comedy,” in Paolucci, ed. “The Political Writings of St. Augustine,” Appendix, 1962).
SECOND, Enlightenment linearity coils its way back into the trenches of World War I, then the replay of World War II, then Mutual Assured Destruction—and today’s nihilism, the “tyranny of relativism” (Benedict), and chaotic identity politics of all stripes. Dismissive of “original sin”(?), bottom-up town hall meetings masquerade too much as “synods of bishops” (grounded, instead, in the triune God and the historical, singular, and incarnate! Christ and his scriptural Apostolic Succession).
THIRD, needed from the Conclave—with Staudt’s prayers and the prayers of the entire Communion of Saints—is a papacy to clearly reframe synodality and the “2008 Ecclesial Assembly” within the already-clarifying Second Vatican Council (Lumen Gentium’s: “hierarchical communion”) and within the overall Magisterium which now includes—explicitly—the inborn and universal natural law with its moral absolutes (Veritatis Splendor, nn. 95, 115). The real path “forward”…
According to the theologian Augustine, beyond the myopia of any substitute social science, in our fallen world there’s still a Providential meaning at a higher level. About any possibly sanguine optimism—the fully Jesuit St. Ignatius counsels us to “pray as if everything depends on God, and work as if everything depends on us.”
We need a great deal of prayer for this Conclave. Another liberal who pretends to be objective would destroy us.
Nothing can destroy Jesus Christ or those who worship Him. Happy Easter!
Come what may, let’s pray and stay Catholic.
“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)
Mr Lanham:
Another liberal pope wouldn’t be able to “destroy us”. The Catholic Church is indefectible, and will last until the end of time, regardless of who is elected in the upcoming conclave. The
The Holy Ghost may make signs that a conclave may possibly choose to ignore, for
in matters touching on what the world would call «power», the immediate concerns of the secular sphere may outweigh those of the spiritual.
In its history the Church has has some some terrible popes, although even they have not sought to tamper promiscuously with Catholic doctrine.
We need Pontiffs with the nous to strike the balance between two worlds. A balance in which the noise of popular social media does not count as Vox Dei.
A rara avis indeed.
Good morning there.AS we remembers and ,mourn the passing on of Pope Francis.this platform is wide and good enough to call for the planting of trees to keep the Pope Laudato Si movement going .
Plant a tree for Pope Francis Legacy
Elizabeth: To note the passing of a Pope does not assume that everyone is mourning. As far as planting trees is concerned, I’d only ask you how many trees you’ve planted in your lifetime to compensate for all the wood/paper products you’ve ever used?
Pachamama would be so proud. 🥲
Aye, and what type of tree should we plant? A tree whose fruit is the knowledge of good and evil, a tree in which serpents incline to coil? Or a tree misshapen as a cross on which to crucify Our Savior? The Tree of Life has no progeny outside heaven, so we leave that One for Francis to see–if only he is able.
Not so much recently, but during the Renaissance, we had some bad Popes. Somehow, the Church survived.