Papal Conclave Speech
Papal conclave speech
Imagine a world with no order or government; that is how the Catholic Church feels without a Pope in office. The Papal Conclave, the process by which a new pope is chosen, has been evolving since the start of the Catholic Church, circa 33 A.D. As many of you may know, one was recently conducted. However, the inner workings of the papal conclave are unknown to most and are truly interesting. Did you know that Pope Benedict’s stepping down is quite a rare event and the first time that has happened in nearly 600 years (a fact I learned from Susannah Cullinane on her cnn.com blog in 2013)? This rare event has collected many peoples attention to the process of how to elect a new Pope. Coming from a Catholic background, the papal position and its history as well as the secrecy surrounding it has always intrigued me. I will begin this presentation by giving you a background of what this conference is really all about.
The term Papal Conclave refers to the meeting that is held when a new Pope needs to be elected. Although its humble beginnings originated with only 13 cardinals in 1276, the 2013 Papal Conclave involved 115 cardinals and was watched by millions of people around the world. I learned this from Edward Peters in his web blog from March 19 2013. Cardinals make up the highest-ranking committee in the Catholic Church called the College of Cardinals. They are charged with making some of the largest decisions for the Church including electing the Pope and wear bright red, signifying that they are willing to die for the Church. These robes give the Cardinals their name. They meet in the Sistine Chapel, one of the most beautiful sites in the city state with a population of 800, as stated in 2012 by the CIA on their website. The Cardinals are elected for life but are only able to serve until they turn 80. Now that you now know the humble origination of the Papal Conclave, I will now show you the complexity of it today. A new Pope is chosen
Imagine a world with no order or government; that is how the Catholic Church feels without a Pope in office. The Papal Conclave, the process by which a new pope is chosen, has been evolving since the start of the Catholic Church, circa 33 A.D. As many of you may know, one was recently conducted. However, the inner workings of the papal conclave are unknown to most and are truly interesting. Did you know that Pope Benedict’s stepping down is quite a rare event and the first time that has happened in nearly 600 years (a fact I learned from Susannah Cullinane on her cnn.com blog in 2013)? This rare event has collected many peoples attention to the process of how to elect a new Pope. Coming from a Catholic background, the papal position and its history as well as the secrecy surrounding it has always intrigued me. I will begin this presentation by giving you a background of what this conference is really all about.
The term Papal Conclave refers to the meeting that is held when a new Pope needs to be elected. Although its humble beginnings originated with only 13 cardinals in 1276, the 2013 Papal Conclave involved 115 cardinals and was watched by millions of people around the world. I learned this from Edward Peters in his web blog from March 19 2013. Cardinals make up the highest-ranking committee in the Catholic Church called the College of Cardinals. They are charged with making some of the largest decisions for the Church including electing the Pope and wear bright red, signifying that they are willing to die for the Church. These robes give the Cardinals their name. They meet in the Sistine Chapel, one of the most beautiful sites in the city state with a population of 800, as stated in 2012 by the CIA on their website. The Cardinals are elected for life but are only able to serve until they turn 80. Now that you now know the humble origination of the Papal Conclave, I will now show you the complexity of it today. A new Pope is chosen