The history of the pope election – Diepresse.com

« Extra Omnes », « All out », it will soon be called in the Sistine chapel when the (under 80-year) cardinals from all over the world go into the conclave until they agree to a successor for Pope Franziskus with a two-thirds majority. The ceremonial of the pope election has been firmly anchored in the Catholic Church for centuries, the way there was rocky.

Until the 12th century, Pope elections are by no means mysterious rituals behind thick walls. First of all, even laypersons can still have a say in the Bishop of Rome. Again and again, in the history of the church, the purchase of the highest church office (as well as the lower) is on the agenda, then again the emperor determines the Pope. « A functioning recipe, as the choice of a Pope should properly and free of external pressure should be done, did not find the first millennium, » writes Stefan von Kempis in « White Rauch and False Monks » about the history of the conclusion. There are said to have been 18 different types of pope election until the 16th century.