Conclave and Papal Conclave: Meaning, Definition, Cardinals, Facts and Consequences

Conclave

The conclave is an assembly of all the Cardinals of the Catholic Church which privately selects the next Pope in the event of a vacancy.

The term "conclave" can also be used to refer to any private assembly, although its primary connotation is to the Papal conclave.

Papal Conclave

A papal election is the method by which the Roman Catholic Church fills the office of Bishop of Rome, whose incumbent is known as the Pope, the head of the Church. The electors, when locked together in a room for this purpose, form a conclave, (from the Latin cum clave "with a key") which they are not permitted to leave until a new Pope is elected. Conclaves have been employed since the Second Council of Lyons decreed in 1274 that the electors should meet in seclusion. In modern times they have been held in the Sistine Chapel in the Palace of the Vatican. The 1492 conclave was the first to be held in the Sistine Chapel, the site of all conclaves since 1878.

Since the year 1061, the College of Cardinals has served as the sole body charged with the election of the Pope, the source of the term Prince of the church for cardinals. In earlier times, members of the clergy and the people of Rome were entitled to participate, in much the same way as the laity helped determine the choice of bishops throughout the Catholic Church during this early period. Popes may make rules relating to election procedures; they may determine the composition of the electoral body, replacing the entire College of Cardinals if they were to so choose.

Since the Apostolic Age, the Bishop of Rome, like other bishops, was chosen by the consensus of the clergy and laity of the diocese. The body of electors was more precisely defined when, in 1059, the College of Cardinals was designated the sole body of electors. Since then, other details of the process have developed. A majority of the vote is required to elect the new pope, which also requires acceptance from the person elected.

List of papal elections

There have been 104 papal elections that have produced popes recognized by the Catholic Church as legitimate, and 6 modern anti-papal elections producing antipopes widely recognized as legitimate successors in our times that, although recognized by the world as legitimate successors of Peter, are not. There was no fixed process for papal succession before 1059 and popes were often selected with substantial secular involvement, if not outright appointment. Since the promulgation of In nomine Domini (1059), however, suffrage has been limited to the College of Cardinals.

Papal elections since 1276 have taken the form of papal conclaves, which are elections that follow a set of rules and procedures developed in Ubi periculum (1274) and later papal bulls; observance of the conclave varied until 1294, but all papal elections since have followed relatively similar conclave procedures.

Although the cardinals have historically gathered at a handful of other locations within Rome and beyond, only five elections since 1455 have been held outside the Apostolic Palace. Twenty-eight papal elections have been held outside Rome, in: Terracina (1088), Cluny (1119), Velletri (1181), Verona (1185), Ferrara (October 1187), Pisa (December 1187), Perugia (1216, 1264–1265, 1285, 1292–1294, 1304–1305), Anagni (1243), Naples (1254, 1294), Viterbo (1261, 1268–1271, July 1276, August–September 1276, 1277, 1281–1282), Arezzo (January 1276), Carpentras/Lyon (1314–1316), Avignon (1334, 1342, 1352, 1362, 1370), Konstanz (1417) and Venice (1799–1800). Three elections moved between locations while in progress: the elections of 1268–71, 1292–94, and 1314–16.

Papal elections from the 11th to the 21st Centuries

Elections that elected papal claimants currently regarded by the Catholic Church as antipopes are italicized.

Epikeia is needed for getting the next pope

When there is no pope and hence the Holy See is vacant, the current law decrees that cardinals must elect the next pope:

Constitutio of Pope Pius XII, Vacantis Apostolicae Sedis, December 8, 1945: “The right to elect the future Pope belongs solely to the Sacred College of Cardinals to the exclusion of any intervention by any other civil or ecclesiastical authority or dignity, or even by a General Council, which, if it is in session at the time, is ipso facto suspended on the death of the Pope until reconvened by the new Pope.” (AAS 38, 1946, p. 76.)

The law that decrees how the Catholic Church fills the vacant Holy See with a pope is a disciplinary law that can and has changed. By a past law a pope appointed his successor. And by another past law Catholic bishops, priests, and laymen elected the next pope:

Catholic Encyclopedia, Pope, 1907: “A brief historical review will show how the principle of election by the Roman Church has been maintained through all the vicissitudes of papal elections. St. Cyprian tells us in regard to the election of Pope St. Cornelius (251) that the comprovincial bishops, the clergy, and the people all took part in it: ‘He was made bishop by the decree of God and of His Church, by the testimony of nearly all the clergy, by the college of aged bishops [sacerdotum], and of good men’ (Ep. Iv ad Anton., n. 8). And a precisely similar ground is alleged by the Roman priests in their letter to Emperor Honorius regarding the validity of the election of Boniface I (A. D. 418; P. L., XX, 750).”

Therefore epikeia can be used in regard to the laws that govern the method by which the Catholic Church fills the vacant Holy See with a pope because they are disciplinary laws. During these days of the Great Apostasy, there are no cardinals. Consequently, the current law on electing the next pope is impossible to observe. If it were observed, there would be no way to fill the vacant Holy See with a pope because cardinals are required to elect the pope, and the pope is required to make cardinals. Hence epikeia must be used to get the next pope. In using epikeia, one must first seek an older law that can be observed and use that law to fill the vacant Holy See with a pope.

In regard to the current law, the dilemma of the possible loss of all the cardinals was addressed and the solution was to observe extinct laws by which the whole Church or the Roman clergy would then elect the next pope:

Francisco de Vitoria (1480-1546), De Potestate Ecclesiae: “If by any calamity, war or plague, all Cardinals would be lacking, we cannot doubt that the Church could provide for herself a Holy Father. Hence such an election should be carried by all the Church and not by any particular Church. And this is because that power is common and it concerns the whole Church. So it must be the duty of the whole Church.”

Catholic Encyclopedia, Pope, 1907: “Should the college of cardinals ever become extinct, the duty of choosing a supreme pastor would fall, not on the bishops assembled in council, but upon the remaining Roman clergy. At the time of the Council of Trent Pius IV, thinking it possible that in the event of his death the council might lay some claim to the right, insisted on this point in a consistorial allocution.”

During these days of the Great Apostasy when there are no cardinals, one way to get the next pope is by the Roman clergy electing the pope. Another way is by the Catholic clergy, gathered from around the world, electing the next pope. If there are no Catholic clergy, then only God Himself can choose the next pope in a miraculous way.

We live in the time predicted by the ancient Fathers, St. Francis de Sales, and others when the Church, for a time, would seemingly disappear. Only God can resolve this situation, when and in whatever manner He chooses.

The Heresies of Francis I, Benedict XVI, John Paul II, John Paul I, Paul VI, and John XXIII – Antipopes of the Vatican II Counter Church

Contents

• 1. The Great Apostasy and a counterfeit Church predicted in the New Testament and in Catholic Prophecy

• 2. Pope Leo XIII’s Prayer to St. Michael – a Prophecy about the Future Apostasy in Rome

• 3. The Message of Fatima: a heavenly sign marking the beginning of the end times and a prediction of apostasy from the Church

• 4. A complete list of the Antipopes in History

• 5. The Great Western Schism (1378-1417) and what it teaches us about the post-Vatican II apostasy

• 6. The Catholic Church teaches that a heretic would cease to be pope, and that a heretic couldn’t be validly elected pope

• 7. The Church’s enemies, Communists and Freemasons, made an organized effort to infiltrate the Catholic Church

• 8. The Vatican II Revolution (1962-1965)

• 9. The Liturgical Revolution – A New Mass

• 10. The New Rite of Ordination

• 11. The New Rite of Consecration of Bishops

• 12. New Sacraments: the Changes to the Other Sacraments

• 14. The Heresies of Paul VI (1963-1978), the man who gave the world the New Mass and the Teachings of Vatican II

• 15. The Scandals and Heresies of John Paul I

• 16. The Heresies of John Paul II, the most traveled man in history and perhaps the most heretical

• 18. The Vatican II sect vs. the Catholic Church on partaking in non-Catholic worship

• 19. The Vatican II sect vs. the Catholic Church on non-Catholics receiving Holy Communion

• 20. The Heresies of Benedict XVI (2005-)

• 21. Answers to the Most Common Objections Against Sedevacantism

• 22. The Massive Sexual Scandal among the Vatican II/Novus Ordo “priests”

• 23. The Seminaries of the Vatican II sect are unspeakable cesspools of homosexuality and heresy

• 24. The idolatry of the Vatican II sect, and the formation of “priests” for its idolatry in the Vatican II seminaries, is connected with its rampant homosexuality

• 25. The Vatican II sect promotes idolatry by its general worship of man, by its particular worship of man in the New Mass, and by its acceptance of idolatrous religions

• 26. The Deplorable State of “Catholic” Parochial and High Schools

• 27. The Deplorable State of “Catholic” Colleges and Universities

• 28. The Annulment Fiasco – The Vatican II Sect’s De Facto acceptance of Divorce and Remarriage

• 29. The Figures on the post-Vatican II decline

• 30. One can be pro-abortion and part of the Vatican II sect at the same time

• 32. The Religious Orders in the Vatican II Sect: Totally Apostate

• 34. The Apostasy of the Hierarchy and prominent members of the Vatican II sect - is this your hierarchy?

• 35. EWTN: The Global “Catholic” Network and the Charismatic Movement

• 36. The False Apparitions at Bayside, New York

• 37. What Does Medjugorje Say? Its message proves that it is also a false apparition

• 38. Was Vatican II infallible? If you believe that Paul VI was a true pope, yes.

• 39. Paul VI ends a very popular and significant false traditionalist myth by declaring that Vatican II and the New Mass are binding, as well as refuting recent declarations by Ferrara and Matt

• 40. The File on the positions of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX)

• 42. Natural Family Planning is Sinful Birth Control

• 43. The Whole Truth about the Consecration and Conversion of Russia and the impostor Sr. Lucy

• 44. Is the Vatican II sect the Whore of Babylon prophesied in the Apocalypse?

"Now when he [the Pope] is explicitly a heretic, he falls ipso facto from his dignity and out of the Church..." St. Francis De Sales (17^th century), Catholic Doctor of the Church, The Catholic Controversy, pp. 305-306 : The Catholic Teaching that a heretic cannot be a valid pope and loses the papal office automatically [link to section]

There have been 260 valid popes in Catholic history, and more than 40 antipopes (i.e., men who posed as popes but had not been truly elected). There have been more than 200 papal vacancies (periods without a pope). The facts available on this website (see links) prove that the last six men who have claimed be popes – Francis I, Benedict XVI, John Paul II, John Paul I, Paul VI and John XXIII, the men who brought in Vatican II – have been and are antipopes. We prove that they are/were manifest heretics and not true Catholics. This section defends Catholic teaching and the teaching of the true popes; it exposes manifestly heretical antipopes who have been falsely posing as leaders of the Catholic Church.

The Great Apostasy and a Counterfeit Church predicted in the New Testament and in Catholic Prophecy

Antipope Francis [link to section]

Benedict XVI (The Heresies of Benedict XVI File) [link to section] - A complete exposé of the astounding heresies of Benedict XVI

John Paul II (manifest heretic who claimed to be pope 1978-2005) [link to section] - A complete exposé of the astounding heresies of John Paul II

Paul VI (manifest heretic who claimed to be Pope 1963-1978) [link to section] - A complete exposé of the heresies of Paul VI, the man who brought in Vatican II and the New Mass

The Scandals and Heresies of John XXIII [link to section]

The Scandals and Heresies of John Paul I [link to section]

Pope Paul IV's 1559 Apostolic Constitution Cum ex Apostolatus Officio [link to section] - Pope Paul IV solemnly declares that a heretic cannot be validly elected pope, even with the unanimous consent of the cardinals

Responses to 19 of the Most Common Objections Against Sedevacantism [link to section] - Sedevacantism is the position that the Chair of Peter is presently vacant… This section proves that what is said on this website is perfectly compatible with all Catholic teachings, papal dogmas, the indefectibility of the Catholic Church, the indefectibility of the papal office, Christ’s promises to be with His Church, etc.

The Great Western Schism (1378-1417) and what it teaches us about the post-Vatican II apostasy - Massive confusion, multiple antipopes, antipopes in Rome, an antipope recognized by all the cardinals; The Great Western Schism proves that a line of antipopes at the heart of the post-Vatican II crisis is absolutely possible-

A complete list of the 42 antipopes in Church history [link to section] - In Catholic history there have been 260 valid popes, starting with St. Peter, and 42 antipopes – that is, men who claimed to be true popes but were not… some of them reigned in Rome for periods of time

The Catholic Teaching that a heretic cannot be a valid pope [link to section]

St. Robert Bellarmine, De Romano Pontifice, II, 30: "A pope who is a manifest heretic automatically (per se) ceases to be pope and head, just as he ceases automatically to be a Christian and a member of the Church. Wherefore, he can be judged and punished by the Church. This is the teaching of all the ancient Fathers who teach that manifest heretics immediately lose all jurisdiction."

St. Francis De Sales (17^th century), Doctor of the Church, The Catholic Controversy, pp. 305-306 : "Now when he [the Pope] is explicitly a heretic, he falls ipso facto from his dignity and out of the Church..."

St. Antoninus (1459): "In the case in which the pope would become a heretic, he would find himself, by that fact alone and without any other sentence, separated from the Church. A head separated from a body cannot, as long as it remains separated, be head of the same body from which it was cut off. A pope who would be separated from the Church by heresy, therefore, would by that very fact itself cease to be head of the Church. He could not be a heretic and remain pope, because, since he is outside of the Church, he cannot possess the keys of the Church." (Summa Theologica, cited in Actes de Vatican I. V. Frond pub.)

Read Book: The Truth about What Really Happened to the Catholic Church after Vatican II

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