Who takes charge if the Pope is incapacitated?

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fireproofpoodle

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If, God forbid, the Holy Father were to be rendered totally and permanantly unable to do his duties, who would take fill his shoes until his death? Would it be the Camerlengo?
 
I could be wrong on that though. Maybe the Carmerlengo is only in place when a Pope dies and they’re waiting on election.
 
No one would “fill his shoes” but the Camerlengo would be the caretaker. The situation would be rather similar to an interregnum. Something of the like happened in 1938 when PP Pius XI was on his deathbed and Eugenio Pacelli, who held the post of Secretary of State as well as that of Camerlengo, kept things running.
 
I believe it is correct (or at least “standard”) that the Cardinal Camerlengo would take over day to day administration. Canon Law notes:
Can. 335 When the Roman See is vacant or entirely impeded, nothing is to be altered in the governance of the universal Church; the special laws issued for these circumstances, however, are to be observed.
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THE IMPEDED SEE
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Can. 412 An episcopal see is understood to be impeded if by reason of captivity, banishment, exile, or incapacity a diocesan bishop is clearly prevented from fulfilling his pastoral function in the diocese, so that he is not able to communicate with those in his diocese even by letter.
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Can. 413 §1. When a see is impeded, the coadjutor bishop, if there is one, has governance of the diocese unless the Holy See has provided otherwise. If there is none or he is impeded, governance passes to an auxiliary bishop, the vicar general, an episcopal vicar, or another priest, following the order of persons established in the list which the diocesan bishop is to draw up as soon as possible after taking possession of the diocese. The list, which must be communicated to the metropolitan, is to be renewed at least every three years and preserved in secret by the chancellor.
§2. If there is no coadjutor bishop or he is impeded and the list mentioned in §1 is not available, it is for the college of consultors to select a priest to govern the diocese.
§3. The one who has assumed the governance of a diocese according to the norm of §§1 or 2 is to advise the Holy See as soon as possible of the impeded see and the function he has assumed.
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I suppose the Holy Father could have listed someone other than the Camerlengo to administer affairs (but I believe the Camerlengo is also the “chancellor” charged with keeping that list).

tee
Any of what I have said may be wrong
 
My big beef with the Church is Papal infallibility. So many people I have known completely lost their senses before their death. My dear late father in law was certain of his illusions. If he were the pope he would probably have declared these as infallible.
 
But, in the case of dementia, the Holy Spirit would not allow the Pope to make ex cathedra statements. He might die before the statement could be made, or lose his powers of speech, etc. It’s actually fairly rare that the Pope does make such a statement, as Pope, on an issue of faith or morals. Weather forecasts and sports team predictions are all classic examples of non-faith related topics on which he is not infallible.
 
rep140 said:
My big beef with the Church is Papal infallibility. So many people I have known completely lost their senses before their death. My dear late father in law was certain of his illusions. If he were the pope he would probably have declared these as infallible.
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How does on declare illusions? That doesn’t really make any sense.
This statement reveals that that you probably don’t have a good understanding of The Charism of infallibility.
You need to do a little homework, which will help dispel both your misunderstanding and big beef.
 
According to the doctrine of the Church, the Pope is only infallible when he is making solemn pronouncements on matters of the Faith when acting in the capacity of ex cathedra, In the chair of Peter.

The only time it has been used since the doctrine was pronounced was the declaration on the immaculate conception as dogma of the Catholic Church. It is rarely used because on most matters it is unnesecary.
 
Jehoshua said:
According to the doctrine of the Church, the Pope is only infallible when he is making solemn pronouncements on matters of the Faith when acting in the capacity of ex cathedra, In the chair of Peter.

The only time it has been used since the doctrine was pronounced was the declaration on the immaculate conception as dogma of the Catholic Church. It is rarely used because on most matters it is unnesecary.
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Wasn’t it also used by Pope Pius XII when he defined the Assumption? At least that is what some people, including me, claim.
 
preV2tradcath said:
Wasn’t it also used by Pope Pius XII when he defined the Assumption? At least that is what some people, including me, claim.
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Yes in 1951

If Benedict XVI was incapcitated no matter what the person most likely to run things would be Cardinal Bertone as he is both Secreatery of State and Carmelengo
 
rep140 said:
My big beef with the Church is Papal infallibility. So many people I have known completely lost their senses before their death. My dear late father in law was certain of his illusions. If he were the pope he would probably have declared these as infallible.
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Papal infallibility can be exercised only under certain very carefully defined conditions.

It is generally agreed there is only ONE such exercise since the promulgation of Pastor aeturnus–and it was about something we already knew anyway, namely the Bodily Assumption of the Theotokos.
 
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