Papal election

• Successors to Peter originally chosen by the Roman church--clergy and laity.
• The right of the laity to refuse the person elected was abolished by a Synod held in the Lateran in 769, but restored to Roman noblemen by Pope Nicholas I during a Synod of Rome in 862.
• 1059: the College of Cardinals was designated the sole body of electors. Cardinals are appointed by the Pope.
• Conclave refers to the fact that the Cardinals are locked into a building with "with a key" (cum clave) until they elect a new Pope. The rule dates from 1274 and was prompted by the Cardinals refusing to agree on a pope between 1268-1271.
• 1621: Gregory XV created the rules that are essentially still in use today.
• 1917: Only those who are already priests or bishops may be appointed as Cardinals.
• 1971: electors limited to 120 (up from 70) cardinals under 80 years of age.
• 1996: John Paul II, apostolic constitution Universi Dominici Gregis.
• Two-thirds plus one supermajority required for election.
• Two ballots in the morning, two in the afternoon.
• The ballots are burned after each vote.
• Dark smoke = no one elected.
• White smoke and bells (2005) = "Habemus papam!"
• 1958: abandonment of sealing wax on the ballots made it hard to tell the color of the smoke during the conclave that led to the election of John Paul XXIII.

Frontrunners

These are the top group listed in "Next Pope Betting Odds." I haven't got a dog in this fight. The only reason for compiling this list is so that I can understand who is being discussed in various and sundry commentaries.

Name	Birth	Country	Office
Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson	1948-10-11	Ghana	President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
Angelo Scola	1941-11-07	Italy	Archbishop of Milan
Marc Ouellet	1944-06-08	Canada	Archbishop emeritus of Tours
Tarcisio Bertone	1934-12-02	Italy	Secretary of State and Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church
Leonardo Sandri	1943-11-18	Argentina	Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches
Angelo Bagnasco	1943-02-14	Italy	Archbishop of Genoa
Francis Arinze
Péter Erdo	1952-06-25	Hungary	Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest
Gianfranco Ravasi	1942-10-18	Italy	President of the Pontifical Council for Culture
Odilo Scherer	1949-09-21	Brazil	Archbishop of São Paulo
Christoph Schönborn	1945-01-22	Austria	Archbishop of Vienna

Links

• Papal resignation.
• Wikipedia, "Papal conclave."
• "Cardinal electors in Papal conclave, 2013."
• "Next Pope Betting Odds."