The elected cardinal has to say to the conclave whether he accepts the papacy. If he declines, what arguments would he put forward ?
Maybe that’s he too old or ill. I can’t recall anyone who was elected and refused. Supposedly the last time someone was in the running and announced he’d refuse if elected was Cardinal Giovanni Colombo, then Archibishop of Milan, during the second Papal Conclave in 1978 that elected Pope John Paul II.
If he has an illness, wouldn’t he have to declare it beforehand ?
I don’t believe he has to give a reason. What are the other cardinals going to do – throw a white robe over him and shove him onto the balcony?
Would we ever know if someone was elected and refused? Given the extreme secrecy of the conclave proceedings, if they simply continued the votes as though the 2/3 majority had never been reached no one outside the conclave would ever know.
Reason, eh? Um… not as faithful to the Vatican as Mahony. 