The College of Cardinals is set to begin the deliberation for a new pope today in Rome, a decision that will resonate across the world — including in Gainesville.
The Rev. Marek Dzien, of Gainesville’s St. Augustine Church and Catholic Student Center, said he compared the relationship between the pope and local congregations to that of Washington D.C. and the states.
“For 95 percent of Catholics, it’s more important what’s happening in their parish than in Rome,” he said. “But when a big decision is made, it affects everybody.”
The election process, also known as Conclave, will have 115 cardinals locked in the Chapel until they select the new leader of Catholicism.
Conclave comes almost two weeks after Pope Benedict XVI resigned from his papacy, making him the first pope to resign in nearly 600 years.
The process to choose a new pope is straightforward:
Members of the college who can travel to Rome and are under the age of 80 take part in the electoral ritual.
Four times a day, the cardinals write the name of their choice on a slip of paper and place it into a golden urn in front of Michelangelo’s “Judgement Day” painting. Three cardinals are chosen to count and record the votes.
If there isn’t a two-thirds majority for any candidate, the slips of paper are burned, and a black smoke emerges from the Chapel’s chimney, signaling there will be another vote.
Once a majority is reached, however, white smoke signals will show that a new pope was chosen.
The newly-elected pope then chooses a new name and is fitted for papal robes before addressing the world for the first time.
Dzien said he doesn’t think the next pope is likely to make too many changes. He does believe a more conservative pope will be chosen.
Jordan Kassabaum, a 21-year-old UF religion and classics senior, agreed, but thinks a non-European pope would be beneficial for the Church.
“I think doing that would be a good thing because it would show that the church really is the universal church, Catholic meaning universal, not just the European church,” he said.
