A research article published not long after Pope John Paul II died in 2005 noted:
Few institutions are more important than the guidelines employed in selecting the spiritual leader for over a billion people. Although the importance of such institutions is widely acknowledged, there is no consensus on their source.
The PS: Politics and Political Science article, written by Forrest Maltzman, Melissa Schwartzberg, and Lee Sigelman, admits the confidential and closely guarded information about papal elections makes detailed knowledge of the elections difficult to observe – but points to how the rules and rule-changing can give us insights into what decision-makers in the Catholic Church want.
Following the death of Pope Francis on Monday, the coming papal elections will require a two-thirds vote to select the next pontiff. There are multiple candidates and no clear front-runner among them, so there will likely be multiple ballots in the upcoming papal conclave.
While Pope Francis did not change the rules of the papal election, the College of Cardinals became the most diverse in its history during his papacy. As the world watches this historic transition, the rules shaping the election – as well as the diverse group of cardinals voting in it – will guide the future of the Catholic Church.
