When the Cardinals vote for the next leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, they face Michelangelo's “final judgment” at the Sistine Chapel. In the Sistine Chapel, Pope John Paul II once wrote:
However, the chapel was not always the official location of Pope Conclave.
This year's Conclave is the 14th time that was held inside the chapel, according to Ralph Van Buren, who teaches art history at the Pope University of Santa Claus in Rome.
The Conclave was first held in the Chapel in 1492. For over 300 years thereafter, permutations took place in various spaces in the Apostles' Palace, the residence of the Pope. It was not until 1878 that the church began to hold pontifical elections again at the Sistine Chapel. And it didn't become Conclave's official website until 1996, when Pope John Paul II drafted new rules for the Pope election, noted Barbara Jatta, director of Vatican Museums.
In the early century of the church, the Pope was elected by praise – a kind of group voice vote – and the clergy and Roman population could participate. Gradually, voting rights were limited to the top ranks of the clergy, but external interference from the monarchs and nobles was common.
The longest conclave in history lasted 33 months, on November 29, September 1, 1268, and 1271. It prompted Gregory X, Pope X, who emerged from that election, and created the rules first used in 1276.
The conclave came from “Cum Clave,” the Latin word had keys and the cardinals remained in segregation until the Pope was chosen. The small, hastily built cubicles were built in the Sistine chapel and surrounding halls and rooms. Each cardinal was allowed to have one or two aides, but the lack of space forced aides to sleep in lofts between the cubicles.
There was a time in history when the Cardinals were literally walled, with assistant crews. The Vatican archives and museums have documents that mention the payment of additional Conclave crews, including the ceremony's master, confessor, saint, doctor, nurse, pharmacist, and more.
“It was the whole world,” said Michela Gianfrancheski, a Vatican Museum employee.
The official, known as the former S of Conclave, acted as an intermediary in the outside world while being given the key to where the Cardinals were staying and remained isolated.
The diaries of past participants suggest that the Pope's conclusions were hardly picnics. For centuries, there was a fire inside the hall. A battle broke out between the Cardinals. A riot erupted on the street outside.
In a book on the Conclave in 1559, Mary Hollingsworth said that for the four months that led to the election of Pope Pius IV, “The conditions of living in the Vatican have dramatically deteriorated. One cardinal died (and then almost died), and there was a foul smell of the Sistine Chapel.
The election for City VIII took place over three weeks in the summer of 1606, and modern documents state that the 55 cardinals involved were suffering from the stifling Roman heat. By the time they were released, 12 cardiacs had fever, two had to leave due to illness, and others were almost dying. Even Urban had to postpone the campaign because he was sick.
Some Popes have sought to find an alternative space to house the Cardinals above the Colonnade in St. Peter's Square.
In the early 19th century, four successful events took place at Kirinard, a palace for clergymen that crossed towns, the residence of today's Italian president. The transition to Kilinar was partly for practical considerations. It was more spacious and there was an increasing number of cardinals, Jeanfranche said. However, when Italy became the kingdom, the Pope lost its palace, and in 1878 the pontifical election moved to the Sistine Chapel.
Under John Paul's rules, a Vatican guesthouse with modest accommodation was built for the Voting Cardinals.
