Pope election and unanimity

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The post above you cited a passage that says that God elects every bishop.
 
Well, I would have to find a good commentary on that passage, I will try to do so later this evening.
 
He does. God calls men to the episcopate (including the episcopate in Rome). Yet vocations are confirmed only by the Church. Those within the Church who exercise the power of binding and loosing retain their freewill. If those with lawful authority in the Church confirm your vocation as a bishop, God has confirmed that vocation… even if the freewill of those in authority played a role.

This also applies to the Conclave. Christ gave the Church authority to select bishops, including the bishop of Rome. The method of electing the bishop of Rome has varied over time. Freewill of the electors is part of the process… yet the one elected is confirmed by the Church and thus by God. It doesn’t mean that he’s necessarily the best man for the job… but God respects the authority He himself gave to the Church.
 
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KevinK said:
If God inspires Cardinals to select God’s choice as Pope through an election, why is the vote never unanimous?
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I would think it is as much a case of the Holy Spirit working with and through whoever is chosen after the fact as much as directly inspiring the electors in their choice.

Ultimately, if it were a matter of God directly intervening to plonk His chosen one onto the Papal throne, why bother with democratic election at all? Why not, for example, put all the Cardinal’s names into a hat and have one drawn totally at random to become Pope?

Then again, there have been very good and very bad Popes, so it seems even the chosen candidates vary in their openness to following the guidance God provides for them.
 
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I’m not sure where the notion that the Pope is somehow Divinely selected comes from, honestly. The promise of God is that Hell shall not prevail against the Church, not that the Pope will be perfectly selected by God. The Infinite Power of God shows through His protection of the Church from itself, and this includes protecting the Church from bad Popes that have been chosen and put in power.

God’s Providence acts in all things, and of course in the deep sense the Pope is chosen by God just as a murderer is chosen by God. This is due to God’s allowance of free will, and His Power to make all things good, not from Him directly imposing things from above.

So the Cardinals pray for guidance, and the Holy Spirit provides Grace in His way. This does not mean that God “makes the Choice”, nor that a given Pope is even well suited for the job.

Peace and God bless!
 
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The Cardinals may certainly pray to the Holy Spirit for guidance, but the Holy Spirit doesn’t vote—the cardinals do. If they select wisely or poorly, it’s on them.
 
You are assuming that the Cardinals backing someone who did not make it, are not following the Holy Spirit. It may well be that they were following the HS, and the majority were not.

Let’s not presume to tel God what he did.

And it is considered to be below extremely poor form for a Cardinal to politic for himself; but if anyone believes other Cardinals are not politicking for their favored candidate, well, I have this bridge for sale, with a view of ocean front property from the highest point - in Arizona…
 
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