A Tailored Conclave for the Successor of Francis? (2)

The Pope Mentioned the Possibility of Reform

In his book-interview with Sergio Rubin and Francesca Ambrogetti (Ediciones B, March 2023), El Pastor: Desafíos, razones y reflexiones de Francisco sobre su pontificado [The Pastor: challenges, reasons and reflections of Francis on his pontificate], the Pope has already spoken of possibly modifying the election of his successor:

“In fact, I could issue a decree that modifies the conditions of entry into the conclave and allow a bishop who is not a cardinal to participate. From a dogmatic point of view, there would be no problem.”

The Spanish-speaking blog Specola of November 6 was surprised by the speed of the press room's denial, and saw in this haste the sign of great excitement at St. Martha’s House: “The Pope is in a hurry and it shows, the ‘franciscans’ [the followers of Francis] even more so, because their lives depend on the existence of a ‘Francis II’ to keep them in their positions of command.”

The Vaticanist from katholisches.info, Giuseppe Nardi, shows in figures what the advantages of such a reform would be for these “franciscans”: “Here are the figures from the college of cardinals: the Church currently has 241 cardinals in total; 105 cardinals are over 80 years old and are therefore no longer electors of the Pope, but are members of the general congregations.

“136 cardinals are electors of the pope [while only 120 are required]; 98 of the papal electors were appointed by Francis; 72% of the current voters to elect a Pope therefore received the purple from Francis. If, in the future, a quarter of the electoral college were to be composed of non-cardinals (secular and religious), the electorate would have to be expanded by at least 30 voters.”

“Because of the electoral college is currently overcrowded by Francis in his desire to create electors, there should be proportionally 45 lay electors of the Pope. The share of named Bergoglians in the electoral body would thus increase from 72% to around 80%.”

“If we add the Bergoglian minds who made the election of Francis possible in 2013, we obtain an overwhelming majority. Even if we take into account the uncertainties, such as those resulting from the exotic appointments dear to Francis, this should ensure easy-to-calculate majorities.”

And he specifies: “Ghirlanda’s argument in favor of the ‘revolution’ can easily be guessed: democratization, synodalization, and de-clericalization through the integration of lay people and women…” Even in the name of these ideals, we cannot help but think of a very political “electoral optimization.”

An Enlightening Historical Precedent

On November 22, on the First Things website, the American academic George Weigel made this very useful historical reminder: “In January 1904, the new Pope Pius X abolished the ius exclusivæ in the Constitution Commissum nobis, which decreed automatic excommunication for anyone interfering in a future conclave and warned that doing so would risk ‘the indignation of God Almighty and His apostles, Saints Peter and Paul.’” (For the record, in 1903, Emperor Franz Joseph vetoed a papabile, Cardinal Mariano Rampolla del Tindaro.)

“Commissum nobis may seem like an anachronism today. But perhaps not. It has been recently suggested. . . that the present papal administration is considering a ‘reform’ of the conclave procedure.”

“Such a ‘reform,’ it is speculated, would eliminate non-voting cardinals over 80 years old from any role in a papal interregnum, barring them from the General Congregations in which they currently have a voice. In their place would be substituted a mixture of lay men and women, clergy, and religious. Small groups, including both cardinal-electors and these others, would then meet, using Synod-2023’s facilitated ‘Conversation in the Spirit’ methodology to ‘discern’ what the Church needs in a new Pope.”