Pope Benedict XVI says two-thirds majority always needed to elect pope
(Wed.27 June, 2007):- Pope Benedict XVI has stipulated that a two-thirds majority
always is required to elect a new pope, undoing a more flexible procedure introduced
by late Pope John Paul II. In a one-page document Motu Proprio released June 26,
Pope Benedict said the two-thirds-majority rule cannot be set aside, even when cardinal-electors
are at a impassè. Instead, the Pope instructed, that if the cardinals are deadlocked
after 13 days, runoff ballots between the two leading candidates will be held. A
papal election will continue to require a majority of two-thirds of the cardinals
present. In 1996, Pope John Paul II introduced a change in the conclave procedure,
that allowed cardinal-electors to move to a simple majority after 13 days, when 33
or 34 ballots had been held. Pope Benedict said there had been significant requests
for a return to the old rules, under which, a two-thirds majority was always required.
The Pope effected the change by replacing two paragraphs of his predecessor's apostolic
constitution, "Universi Dominici Gregis" or "The Lord's Whole Flock", a document
that defined conclave procedures. Under Pope Benedict's new rule, if a conclave has
not elected a Pope after 13 days, the cardinals will pause for a day of prayer, reflection
and dialogue, then move to a runoff election between the two cardinals, who had obtained
the most votes on the previous ballot. The two leading cardinals would not vote in
the runoff ballots, though they would remain in the Sistine Chapel, where conclaves
are held. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, observed that
the Pope's modification , is a response to requests that the one elected, always be
elected with an ample consensus." Pope Benedict's document Motu Proprio, an apostolic
letter issued only in Latin, was signed June 11.