Old and new rules on pope selection

World religious and political leaders are jetting into the Vatican for John Paul’s funeral at 10 a.m. Friday (5 p.m. Manila). Interment will be in a crypt beneath St. Peter’s Basilica, where many of 262 past popes lie.

Whether that will be his final resting place is wrapped in speculation; reports say he may have willed to be entombed in his native Poland. But his burial and succeeding events, including dates and rites, strictly will follow tradition, amended only by new rules he drew up.

Under Universi Dominici Gregis, John Paul’s "apostolic constitution" of 1996, cardinals must upon a pope’s demise decide first on the dates of the funeral and the start of a conclave to pick a successor. By that law, the body is to be put on display at the basilica for mourners, in this case starting last Monday. There will be nine days of mourning, beginning on the day after the death. But the funeral must be between the fourth and sixth days, or Friday at the latest since John Paul passed away Saturday.

Between such mandated dates, the church will observe rites dating back one to two thousand years. These range from the dead pope’s garb (red cape on white habit of a cardinal), to the display of his staff as Bishop of Rome, to votive Masses and processions.

The conclave must commence at the Sistine Chapel between the 15th and 20th days after the death. All deliberations are secret. "No updates will be made until a decision is reached, however many days it takes," CNN reports. Only smoke from a Vatican chimney will tell the world of results – white when a new pope is elected, black if the balloting has no consensus.

The old rule is for a pope to be elected by two-thirds, but John Paul had relaxed it to simple majority if the conclave fails to come up with such number after 30 ballotings. The 117 cardinal-electors will be locked inside a hall, with time out only for meals and rest. By tradition they sleep in spare apartments in the Vatican, and are forbidden to hold caucuses for papal candidates. John Paul’s amendments now allow them to retire to quarters elsewhere in Rome, but these must be swept regularly of bugging devices.

On the morning of the conclave the cardinals will hold a votive Mass, "Pro Eligendo Papa", at the chapel or basilica. Convening after lunch, they may have a choice by dusk. If not, they must vote again the next day, twice in the morning, twice in the afternoon, and so on.

For each vote cardinals receive ballots inscribed, "Eligo in summum ponticen," Latin for "I elect as supreme pontiff." In order of seniority, CNN says, the cardinals drop their ballot, filled up and folded, into a chalice. The camerlengo, treasurer of the Holy See and presiding officer of the conclave, takes charge of counting.

At the end of each voting, the cardinals will burn the ballots, sprayed with chemicals for the black or white smoke signal. In the olden days, they used wet hay to emit black smoke, dry for white.

By canon law, any baptized male can be elected, though any layman selected would have to be ordained priest or bishop. This rules out married Catholics, for priesthood requires celibacy and the church forbids divorce. If the elected is a bishop, he becomes Bishop of Rome; if he is not, he is so ordained by the dean of the College of Cardinals. But he must first accept the job.

The dean asks what name he wishes for his pontificate. Each cardinal then pledges support. The most senior elector steps onto the basilica’s main balcony to proclaim, "Habemus Papam (We have a Pope)," and states the birth and chosen names. The new Pope emerges, and investiture takes place days later.

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OEC AGAIN. Replying to complaints of vacationing workers about tedious renewal of overseas employment certificates (Gotcha, 30 Mar. 2005), POEA chief Rosalinda Baldoz said OFWs can swipe their electronic ID card at the Balik-Manggagawa Center at POEA Main, or the Labor Assistance Office at NAIA. "But we are still updating our database and installing electronic links with overseas and regional offices," she added.

To this, Linarico Mutuc remarks from Al Khobar, KSA: "POEA and OWWA introduced that e-card as far back as 2002, and have been updating the database since then. Up to when will they be doing so?"

"All untrue," adds Rafael Santos from Dubai, "I vacation to Manila twice a year and renew my OEC at Duty-Free Fiesta Mall across NAIA. Always there are long lines and yelling because: (1) there is only one POEA personnel at only one counter verifying, processing and issuing OECs; (2) they report to work only past 10 a.m.; (3) they accept only exact change. I’ve had the e-card since 2002, but have never got to use it because they have yet to update even the Manila database. While it’s true we can renew OECs at jobsites, the fee is much higher. For proper documentation, all a vacationing OFW needs are passport, visa and plane ticket. The OEC is only to squeeze money from us."

And from Jojo Dancel, who has started a letter-campaign to improve POEA services: "I got my e-card July 2002. Baldoz says card-swiping began June 2004. I was home only last Mar. 15, 2005, and there was no machine to swipe the card through. I had to go through the usual snail-pace process. They need to upgrade computers and servers to avoid frequent hanging and long waits to get back on-line. With, say, a million OFWs vacationing each year and paying P100 for OEC renewal, POEA makes P100 million, not including what OWWA gets as medical fees, etc. Yet they can’t even install a decent sound system at the issuing offices to call out the names of processed OFWs." * * * E-mail: [email protected]