Earlier this month, in an announcement from Rome that took the whole world by surprise, the Roman Catholic leader, Pope Benedict XVI, announced his intention to relinquish his office on February 28 and cease to be Pope. The decision was all the more surprising since the last time a Pope did this was Pope Gregory XII in 1415. The Pope's successor will face many challenges. The new Pope will be elected by the College of Cardinals. Whilst TV news channels may be suggesting one candidate over another, the Cardinal electors will be judging by different criteria. Some claim that the time is now right for a Latin American Pope or even an African Pope, since the majority of Roman Catholics now come from these Continents, but the Cardinals will simply be looking for the best man, wherever he is from. The current Pope cited failing health and advanced age as the reason for stepping down, asserting that the demands of being Pope need a younger, healthier man. Remember, Pope Benedict was already 78 when he was elected. There is an advantage in having a healthy, younger man, but the disadvantage is that his health might keep him in the job for twenty or even thirty years. Once chosen, the pope is there until he dies – or so the script had read until now. The election process to choose a new Pope is very simple, although its roots go back many centuries. The Camerlengo, the one appointed to take care of the Roman Curia (the Vatican's Civil Service) whilst the Papal throne is vacant, will call all of the Cardinal electors to Rome. All Cardinals under the age of eighty are eligible to take part in the Conclave and vote. Whilst the rules allow them to elect anyone at all, the reality is that one of their number will emerge at the end of the Conclave as the new pope. Modern technologies and the speed of travel mean that the Cardinals know each other. They will have met and talked together at meetings in Rome, called by the Pope to advise him on matters affecting the Church. In fact, whilst the title Cardinal is a title of honour in the Roman Catholic Church, conferred by the Pope himself, the job of the Cardinals is to act as a collective body of advisors to the Pope. These men are some of the most intelligent and the most experienced in the Roman Catholic Church. Couched in elaborate ritual, the Cardinals enter the Sistine Chapel in Rome and remain there until they have elected a successor to the late pope. This year, in a complete break with tradition and different from anything known to those organising the Conclave, the previous Pope will still be alive, still be in Rome and may even have some influence over the choice of his possible successor. Up until now, the death of the Pope set into action a known procedure. The Cardinals would come to Rome for the funeral, would have numerous consultation meetings with one another and then at the specified time would enter the Conclave. The advantage of that tried and tested system was precisely that it gave time for consultation and deliberation. This time round, with the existing Pope still very much in the background, it would be unseemly for the Cardinals to arrive in Rome too soon, lest people might think they were jockeying for votes. It has never been good for anyone's prospects to be seen to be wanting the top job. In fact, during these next weeks all of the most likely candidates will be hiding away from the cameras and strenuously denying that they are interested! In this sense, then, the Cardinals who work in Rome as part of the Curia have a definite advantage over those coming from far away, since they can meet and discuss without drawing much attention to themselves. When the different blocs of Cardinals arrive, they will naturally meet with their allies. For instance, the Latin American Cardinals might meet with those from North America, the Africans might meet with those from other emerging nations, to come to some consensus and work out their strategy of how to elect the man they believe most suitable for the position of Pope. So, after lunches and dinners and all these preliminary meetings, the Cardinals will enter the Conclave. Completely cut off from the outside world they are actually locked inside and all methods of communication with those outside, such as radios and mobile phones, are removed. Their job now begins to elect the next successor to Saint Peter. Roman Catholics believe that when Jesus Christ died he entrusted the governance of the Church to Saint Peter, using the words of Jesus in Saint Matthew's Gospel as the basis for their claim: “You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church" (Matt.16:18). The Cardinals, then, are not choosing a Chief Executive but someone they believe will actually speak in the name of God. The voting procedure is simple. Each ballot usually takes a few hours. The winning candidate must receive two thirds of the votes plus one. So, for example, if there were one hundred Cardinals, the winner would need sixty seven votes to be proclaimed the new Pontiff. At the end of each ballot, the votes are collected together and burned, the smoke being seen from a chimney in Saint Peter's Square. If there is no overall winner, the smoke will be grayish black. If there is a winner the smoke will be white and people will begin to pour into the Square from all over Rome, waiting for a first glimpse of their new leader. Tying to predict who the new Pope will be might be exciting for those whose lives revolve around such things, but for most people, especially those in the media who know nothing of matters of faith, it is a distraction best avoided. History has shown that very often the one who goes into the Conclave as the hottest contender for the job does not come out of the Conclave as the new Pope. This is perhaps because people of faith think differently to secular people without any faith at all. Television commentators might think that an ability to organise well, to handle the media successfully and to tackle the demands of a modern age are the key requirements. Others with a less worldly view might suggest that prayer and humility are needed more by the one who will walk in the shoes of the fisherman Peter. Whoever is chosen, the new Pope will not only need to hold his own Church together, but also establish good relations with all the other Christian denominations. Looking towards Rome from the Middle East we might also hope that the next Pope will be able to dialogue honestly and openly with Islam. In a world torn apart by religious strife it is a pressing need that people of all faiths should respect and understand one another. Religious extremism, in all its forms, needs to be confronted and those occupying the middle ground need to come closer to one another to combat fanaticism of any kind. Inshallah, if they choose wisely, the final choice of the Cardinals meeting in Rome will make our world a little safer and a little better. Let us all hope that they make the right choice. British Muslim writer, Idris Tawfiq, teaches at Al-Azhar University and is the author of nine books about Islam. You can visit his website at www.idristawfiq.com, join him on Facebook at Idris Tawfiq Page and listen to his Radio Show, “A Life in Question," on Sundays at 11pm on Radio Cairo 95.4 FM.
