What happens when a Pope dies?

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I don’t knnnnnnnnnnnnnn0w! I’m so sorry, I couldn’t resist:o

Well, I know that he’s buried…😉
 
After he is pronounced dead,his favourite Cardinal hits him gently on the head 3 times,with a silver hammer,and calls him by name.This is to make sure he is dead.Then he has a funeral,and there is a big procession and Catholics all over the world weep,because they miss him.But he is gone to Heaven to watch over them.

Then it is time to elect a new Pope.Cardinals go into a special secret place called the conclave to cast their votes.The maximum number of cardinals voting is 137,but usually it is less then that.Voting can last for days,because often there is not a large enough majority.Every day,the ballots are burned.If a pope has not yet been chosen,black smoke comes out of the chimney.But if a new pope HAS been chosen,they turn the smoke white.The voting is top secret.The cardinals can vote for anyone they consider worthy-even lay people!(but of course nepotism is FORBIDDEN).When the white smoke comes,its a time to rejoice-because we’ve got a new pope!The current pope is Benedict XVI,and he succeded John Paul 2 in 2005.

Years ago,in the middle ages,popes were often horrible people,but nowadays they are always wise,kind,and good.
 
Teeliumtrozzle said:
After he is pronounced dead,his favourite Cardinal hits him gently on the head 3 times,with a silver hammer,and calls him by name.This is to make sure he is dead.Then he has a funeral,and there is a big procession and Catholics all over the world weep,because they miss him.But he is gone to Heaven to watch over them.

Then it is time to elect a new Pope.Cardinals go into a special secret place called the conclave to cast their votes.The maximum number of cardinals voting is 137,but usually it is less then that.Voting can last for days,because often there is not a large enough majority.Every day,the ballots are burned.If a pope has not yet been chosen,black smoke comes out of the chimney.But if a new pope HAS been chosen,they turn the smoke white.The voting is top secret.The cardinals can vote for anyone they consider worthy-even lay people!(but of course nepotism is FORBIDDEN).When the white smoke comes,its a time to rejoice-because we’ve got a new pope!The current pope is Benedict XVI,and he succeded John Paul 2 in 2005.

Years ago,in the middle ages,popes were often horrible people,but nowadays they are always wise,kind,and good.
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Tee is incredibly sardonic! :highprayer:
 
Teeliumtrozzle said:
After he is pronounced dead,his favourite Cardinal hits him gently on the head 3 times,with a silver hammer,and calls him by name.This is to make sure he is dead.Then he has a funeral,and there is a big procession and Catholics all over the world weep,because they miss him.But he is gone to Heaven to watch over them.
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Popes are not assumed to have gone to heaven at all. In fact, there is an official 9 day mourning period, where masses and prayers are said for the deceased pontiff’s soul(which wouldn’t be necessary if he was in heaven). Popes are traditionally not embalmed, although exceptions have been made when they have died in the summer. John XXIII, who died of cancer during the summer was embalmed .

There is an entire procedure involved, the acting head of the church is one of the nuncios, and he has to make the arrangements to bring the cardinals to Rome.
 
Teeliumtrozzle said:
Years ago,in the middle ages,popes were often horrible people,but nowadays they are always wise,kind,and good.
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You’re joking here, right? 😃

Technically, the Middle Ages started at the fall of the (Western) Roman Empire in the 5th Century up to the Renaissance in the 15th Century. Does that mean that most Popes by that time were horrible? NOOOOOOO!!! 😃

What happens when a Pope dies?

He gets a funeral and is buried (often in the Vatican Grottoes, just under the Basilica) and then Cardinals vote to elect who’s going to be the new Pope. Basically what Teeliumtrozzle described in detail.
 
Teeliumtrozzle said:
After he is pronounced dead,his favourite Cardinal hits him gently on the head 3 times,with a silver hammer,and calls him by name.This is to make sure he is dead…
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It would be more accurate to say “this is to see whether he is still alive.” It is not the Camerlengo’s purpose to deliver the coup de grâce “to make sure he is dead.”

On a related note, the Camerlengo is not necessarily the pope’s favorite cardinal.
 
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