Due to start in two days on May 7th.
I started the thread today because reality seems to be mirroring the movie even more than we thought.
Mrs Cad can’t wait for it to end because at least once a day I’ll walk into the room carrying the corgi saying
Annuntio vobis
gaudium magnum
habemus canem
If I had to put money down, I would say Pope Parolin before the end of the 10th. Due to how much Francis did for him, he may go with Francis II. Theologically, John XXIV may be a better fit. Here’s an idea though, his given name is Peter (Pietro) and his Roman church is Santi Simone e Giuda Taddeo a Torre Angela so could we see a Pope Simon?
According to the latest Las Vegas odds, Parolin is the favorite followed by Tagle and Zuppi, but if the movie Conclave has taught me anything, it’s that the longer it takes the cardinals to select a new pope the greater the chance for a relatively unknown to sneak into the top position. I’m rooting for the long shot Mathieu myself, the Belgian Catholic prelate who has served as Archbishop of Tehran–Isfahan since 2021.
If you want more background and detail, google away and there’s a bunch more at this link:
By Malachy’s count, Francis was Pope #112. The next Pope is supposed to be the last Pope, according to most interpretations of Malachy, and Malachy calls him Petrus Romanus, Peter the Roman. I find it quite interesting that the most touted candidate is actually named Peter for reals.
Let’s not let my post launch a hijack with a flurry of comments re the utter b.s. of such predictions, blahblahblah. Let’s just proceed with the conclave and keep on with our Pope-watching.
For myself, I wouldn’t mind it the end of the world were nigh. I wouldn’t even mind if Jesus came again, or for the first time, as the case may be. Or aliens. Or someone!
No Pope has taken the name Peter (except for the first one, of course.) I suspect tradition and possibly superstition will hold for at lest one more pontiff.
The shortest conclave I know of was 3 votes which has occurred a few times. One of those was Leo XIII who everyone knew would be the next Pope but still needed three tries to get the required 2/3 vote. Anyone know of a conclave with fewer votes?
There have been cases when only two ballots were required, such as the conclaves of 1503 (the first one) and 1513. As recently as 1939, Pius XII was elected on the second ballot, but asked for a third ballot as he had only got the two-thirds majority by the narrowest possible margin. It is sometimes said that some cardinals use the first ballot to cast a courtesy vote for a friend, with the serious voting starting with the second ballot.
Just curious- with all the cardinals from around the world speaking a wide variety of languages, how do they handle communication? Obviously they all know Latin, but perhaps to different degrees of fluency. The other option would be having translators, but being outsiders they wouldn’t be allowed. Conducting the entire meeting in Latin which is at best a second language would seem difficult to me.
I Googled “how do cardinals communicate” and the first answer was “through distinctive chirps and body language” which threw me off briefly.
Apparently it is Latin. They are all expected to have a working knowledge of Latin. Obviously side discussions can be in whatever language is most comfortable for them.
I would have thought Italian would be a common second language from a traditional sense. It wouldn’t require deep fluency but a functional level shouldn’t be too hard, especially given the similarities to Latin (and to Spanish). And there’s probably a decent amount of those who understand at least some English.
I once heard tell of two musicologists, one French, one German, who met at a conference. Neither spoke the other’s language but they were both fluent enough in Latin to converse. It can be done.
