Every day, Aleteia offers a selection of articles written by the international press about the Church and the major issues that concern Catholics around the world. The opinions and views expressed in these articles are not those of the editors.
Thursday 26 May 2022
1. Avoiding a deadlocked conclave
2. Nancy Pelosi responds to being barred from Communion: I respect pro-life views but not ‘foisting them onto others’
3. Virtual reality allows you to discover Jerusalem at the time of Christ
4. Nigeria: Priest suspended for running for governor of Benue State
5. A song tells the story of the end of the Corsican Papal Guard
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Avoiding a deadlocked conclave
There is no conclave on the horizon, but analysts are already looking at the rules for the election of the next pope. In this article, Jesuit Father Thomas Reese looks back at the changes made by John Paul II and Benedict XVI regarding the conclave. While two-thirds of the votes have always been required to validate the election of a cardinal to the Throne of Peter, the Polish Pope changed the rule and decided that after the 34th round, the election would simply be by majority vote. Benedict XVI modified the same rule, asking that after the 34th ballot, only the two best candidates be in the running. These adjustments were intended to shorten the conclave and not display a divided college of cardinals to the world. However, Father Reese criticizes these two changes for not being widely consulted and for limiting the possibility of finding a compromise candidate. The two-thirds rule obliges the college to choose a widely accepted cardinal. With the introduction of the possibility of a simple majority election, a group of 51% of the cardinals could wait until the 34th round to impose their candidate.
And today we celebrate...
