Who will run the Vatican if a pope steps down, becomes incapacitated, or goes away? And in accordance with what laws and rules?
One of the major subjects of debate for the next consistory, in addition to the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium, is expected to be new laws for the sede vacante, the election of the pope, and the description of the position of the pope emeritus.
The announcement of Pope Francis’ visit to L’Aquila for the Celestinian Forgiveness – a trip that fueled speculation about the pope’s potential resignation — triggered these discussions.
But the vacancy policy simply has to be changed. The Apostolic Camera, which was in charge of running the affairs of the Holy See during the vacant see, is eliminated under the new apostolic constitution.
As a result, the rules will need to be revised to reflect the new strategy for running the Holy See during the pope’s absence.
Another issue that was brought up by Benedict XVI’s resignation and the discussion that followed was how to handle a situation when a pope could be in fact incapable of leading.
Given the advancements in medicine that prolong the lives of people with serious diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, this is a pressing problem. What should be done if the pope develops a problem of this kind?
Should the pope step down?
The University of Bologna’s Geraldina Boni, a professor of canon law, is the director of an international research team there that is working to draught Vatican laws in circumstances of blocked office and manage the role of the Pope Emeritus.
Since 2011, Boni has served as a consultant to the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts. In a book titled “The Recent Normative Activity of the Church: The End of the World for the Canon Law?,” he addresses some of the concerns highlighted by Pope Francis’ legislative approach.
In an interview with CNA, Boni declined to speculate on whether the pope may step down.
At the same time, she emphasises that “this situation must be regulated, possibly along with that of possible cases of serious difficulties relating to the person of the successor of Peter that prevent him from fulfilling his office” because “it is no longer inconceivable for a pope to resign, since his predecessor ‘opened a door,’ as Francis himself said.”
The Council of Cardinals’ president, Cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodriguez Maradiaga, also said on May 5 that the Code of Canon Law’s provisions for the pope’s resignation would need to be more thoroughly regulated.
Currently, these provisions are only discussed during the Council’s working sessions.
According to Boni, “I believe this is the first time that regulatory urgency is acknowledged on this particular subject at these levels.”
According to Boni, the Jesuit Father Gianfranco Ghirlanda, a canonist who is close to Pope Francis, has been given the responsibility of researching potential revisions. In the consistory on August 27, Ghirlanda will be made a cardinal.
New guidelines for the pope’s abdication?
In December 2021, we both spoke at an important Italian conference where the renunciation was also debated from the perspective of canon law, which took place in L’Aquila, Boni notes that “these are problems that the authorised canonist understands.”
When it came to the possibility of canonical law, she said, “Father Ghirlanda also allowed the prospect, precisely as stated by the group I belong to, for the case of a pope maintained alive by pharmaceuticals and technical equipment.”
The conversation among academics advances the study endeavour on the obstructed seat and the emeritus pope.
Boni is reminded that proposals and other contributions that juridical science can make to the creation of Church laws will be discussed at the National Conference of the Italian Association of Italian Scholars of Canon and Ecclesiastical Law (ADEC), which will take place in Turin beginning on October 5, 2022.
Regarding a potential reform initiative for the vacant see or the conclave’s rules, Boni emphasises that “Concerning Praedicate Evangelium and its impact on the Roman Curia, changes are urgently required.
Unquestionably, the legislation governing the election of the pope is a product of human law, and it has been modified throughout the ages by the canonical legislator via a number of interventions that progressively incorporated requirements and new issues.”
She does not rule out that because of this “Like his predecessors, Pope Francis might start the conclave’s reform. However, as is obvious, it is a highly delicate and sensitive topic that calls for tremendous prudence.”
The function of a retired pope
Boni vehemently rules down the prospect that a pope emeritus may take part in the general congregations as one of the theories that have been suggested but not proven. She said that a retired pope could not be part in conclave planning.
The presence of popes emeritus “in proximity” to the conclave or in any situation where they come into touch with electors might harm and gravely impair the freedom of choice on the part of the cardinals, according to Boni.
Even the slightest perception of meddling should be avoided.
The canonical legislator has always been concerned with ensuring such independence from external influences, but not only from improper recommendations, according to Boni.
By staying “rigorously extraneous to the conclave for the choice of his successor,” Benedict, she observed, validated this strategy.
Pre-conclave gatherings
Reform of the General Congregations, or the pre-conclave gatherings, is another subject. That is also the subject of rumours, although nothing is proven.
In theory, “the abolition of the General Congregations would involve the exclusion of cardinals over 80, who, as is well known, no longer have the right to vote for the successor of Peter, from the key debates that precede the appointment of the next pope.”
She continued, “This last norm, introduced by Paul VI with the motu proprio Ingravescentem aetatem of 1970, was, among other reasons, an expression of the desire to cut off those elderly cardinals, formed before Vatican II—as well as with the preference expressed to a candidate linked to the pre-conciliar mentality—from the election of the Roman Pontiff.”
She said, though, “This explanation is no longer valid. Indeed, many of the cardinals who have reached that age have lived through the “effervescent” era of the 1960s and 1970s and are unquestionably not conservative.”
In response, Boni proposes abandoning the custom of conclave non-participation and considers it “unjustified” that they may also be barred from public gatherings.
“The fixing of a majority of two-thirds of the votes of cardinals for the election of the pope is a strategic rule — issued by a great jurist pope in 1179 — of great balance, restored (although with some corrections) by Benedict XVI precisely given its importance under different profiles,” Boni added.
According to Boni, the major factor is “that the cardinals serve as “spokespeople” for all of Christianity, with a very high degree of unanimity convergent on the name of the pope (inspired by the Holy Spirit).
To modify this norm and, therefore, to interfere with the delicate balance of the conclave, compelling arguments are required.”