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Election, death and resignationElectionMain article: Papal conclaveThe Giving of the Keys to Saint Peter painted by Pietro Perugino (1!"#

The pope $as originally chosen by those senior clergy%en resident in and near &o%e' n 1)*!

the electorate $as restricted to the +ardinals of the oly &o%an +hurch, and the individual votesof all +ardinal Electors $ere %ade e-ual in 11.!' The electors are no$ li%ited to those $ho havenot reached /) on the day before the death or resignation of a pope'0/2 Since the pope is 3ishopof &o%e, only those $ho can be ordained a bishop can be elected, $hich %eans that any %alebapti4ed +atholic is eligible' The last to be elected $hen not yet a bishop $as Pope Gregory 56in 1/71, and the last to be elected $hen not even a priest $as Pope 8eo 5 in 1*17, and the lastto be elected $hen not a cardinal $as Pope 9rban 6 in 17./'0/.2 f so%eone $ho is not a bishopis elected, he %ust be given episcopal ordination before the election is announced to the people'0//2

The Second +ouncil of 8yon $as convened on . May 1"., to regulate the election of the pope'This +ouncil decreed that the cardinal electors %ust %eet $ithin ten days of the popes death,and that they %ust re%ain in seclusion until a pope has been elected; this $as pro%pted by the

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as a signal that a ne$ pope has been chosen'

The Dean of the +ollege of +ardinals then as?s t$o sole%n -uestions of the cardinal $ho hasbeen elected' irst he as?s, @Do you freely accept your election as Supre%e PontiffF@ f he replies$ith the $ord @=ccepto@, his reign begins at that instant, not at the inauguration cere%ony severaldays after$ard' The Dean then as?s, @3y $hat na%e shall you be calledF@ The ne$ pope then

announces the regnal na%e he has chosen' (f the Dean is elected pope, the 6ice Dean perfor%sthis tas?'#

The ne$ pope is led through the @Door of Tears@ to a dressing roo% $here three sets of $hitepapal vest%ents (i%%antatio# a$ait: s%all, %ediu%, and large' Donning the appropriatevest%ents and ree%erging into the Sistine +hapel, the ne$ pope is given the @isher%ans &ing@by the +a%erlengo of the oly &o%an +hurch, $ho% he first either reconfir%s or reappoints' Thepope then assu%es a place of honor as the rest of the cardinals $ait in turn to offer their first@obedience@ (adoratio# and to receive his blessing'

The Senior +ardinal Deacon then announces fro% a balcony over Saint Peters S-uare thefollo$ing procla%ation: =nnuntio vobis gaudiu% %agnu% abe%us Papa% (@ announce to youa great Boy Ce have a pope@#' e then announces the ne$ popes +hristian na%e along $ith his

ne$ly chosen regnal na%e'

9ntil 1!./ the popes election $as follo$ed in a fe$ days by the Papal coronation' = procession$ith great po%p and circu%stance for%ed fro% the Sistine +hapel to St' Peters 3asilica, $ith thene$ly elected pope borne in the sedia gestatoria' There, after a sole%n Papal Mass, the ne$pope $as cro$ned $ith the triregnu% (papal tiara# and he gave for the first ti%e as pope thefa%ous blessing 9rbi et Arbi (@to the +ity 0&o%e2 and to the Corld@#' =nother reno$ned part ofthe coronation $as the lighting of a bundle of flaH at the top of a gilded pole, $hich $ould flarebrightly for a %o%ent and then pro%ptly eHtinguish, $ith the ad%onition Sic transit gloria %undi(@Thus passes $orldly glory@#' = si%ilar $arning against papal hubris %ade on this occasion $asthe traditional eHcla%ation @=nnos Petri non videbis@, re%inding the ne$ly cro$ned pope that he$ould not live to see his rule lasting as long as that of St' Peter, $ho according to traditionheaded the church for 7* years and has thus far been the longest reigning pope in the history of

the +atholic +hurch'0!12

= traditionalist +atholic belief clai%s the eHistence of a Papal Aath s$orn, at their coronation, byall popes fro% Pope =gatho to Pope Paul 6, but $hich since the abolition of the coronationcere%ony is no longer used' There is no reliable authority for this clai%'

The 8atin ter%, sede vacante (@$hile the see is vacant@#,0!"2 refers to a papal interregnu%, theperiod bet$een the death or resignation of a pope and the election of his successor' ro% thister% is derived the ter% sedevacantis%, $hich designates a category of dissident +atholics $ho%aintain that there is no canonically and legiti%ately elected pope, and that there is therefore asede vacante' Ane of the %ost co%%on reasons for holding this belief is the idea that the refor%sof the Second 6atican +ouncil and especially the replace%ent of the Tridentine Mass $ith theMass of Paul 6 are heretical, and that those responsible for initiating and %aintaining these

changes are heretics and not true popes'0!720!20!*2 Sedevacantists are considered to beschis%atics by the %ainstrea% &o%an +atholic +hurch'

or centuries, fro% 17./ on, those elected to the papacy $ere predo%inantly talians' Prior to theelection of the Polish cardinal Karol CoBtyla as Pope >ohn Paul in 1!./, the last non