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Information about Universi Dominici Gregis

Universi Dominici Gregis is an Apostolic Constitution of the Roman Catholic Church issued by Pope John Paul II on February 22, 1996. It superseded Pope Paul VI's 1975 Apostolic Constitution, Romano Pontifici Eligendo.

Universi Dominici Gregis ('the Lord's whole flock', from the opening statement 'The Shepherd of the Lord's whole flock is the Bishop of the Church of Rome, ...'), subtitled On the Vacancy of the Apostolic See and the Election of the Roman Pontiff, deals with the vacancy of the Chair of St Peter and Bishop of Rome namely the Pope.

The constitution modified or in some cases confirmed the rules for the conclave such that the rules today are as follows:

Contents

  • Cardinals must be no more than eighty years of age on the day before the death or resignation of the Pope.
  • No more than 120 Cardinals may vote.
  • A Pope shall be elected by a vote of two-thirds until a total of 33 or 34 votes have taken place.
  • Maximum of two votes in the morning and two each afternoon, totaling four votes will be held daily.
  • After a total of 33 or 34 ballots depending whether a ballot took place on the afternoon of the first day, an absolute majority of the College of Cardinals may change the election rule; however, no modification can supersede the requirement that a valid election have at least an absolute majority of the votes. (This regulation was later revised by Benedict XVI; see below)

Secrecy

Strict secrecy is to be ensured throughout the process. Anyone violating the security of the Vatican, introducing recording equipment, or communicating with a cardinal elector in any way, risks excommunication. Other penalties are at the discretion of the incoming Pope. Various oaths are also required to be taken by the participants, to ensure that they will act properly.

Previous methods of election

Previously, in addition to secret ballot two other methods were allowed for the conduct of the election. A committee of nine to fifteen unanimously chosen cardinals might have been delegated, to make the choice for all (election by compromise, per compromissum). Alternatively, formal ballots could be discarded: in election by acclamation (per acclamationem seu inspirationem) the electors simultaneously shouted out the name of their preferred candidate. Both of these methods have now been abolished: the rationale given was that either compromise or acclamation would not require each cardinal to express his preference. Also, these two methods tended to produce controversy, and in any case neither had been used for quite some time - the last compromise election was of Pope John XXII in 1316, and the last affirmation (acclamation) election was of Pope Gregory XV in 1621. As a result, election by secret ballot is now the only valid method of electing a Pope.

Living quarters of cardinals

Also Universi Dominici Gregis provided that Cardinals would be housed in Domus Sanctae Marthae, a building with dormitory type accommodations built within the Vatican City. Previously Cardinals were housed in improvised accommodations which were often noted for not being particularly comfortable.

Major changes

Three major changes occurred in the new Apostolic Constitution.
  • Provision was provided for the election of a pope by an absolute majority in certain circumstances.
  • For the first time in centuries cardinals were to be provided with an official set of apartments separate from the Sistine Chapel.
  • The method by which a pope symbolically took office was made less specific. Whereas Pope Paul's Romano Pontifici Eligendo explicitly required that the new pope be crowned, the new Apostolic Constitution wrote more ambiguously of the inauguration of the pontificate without spelling out specifically by name whether than inaugurating (ie, formal ceremonial beginning of) the pontificate involves either the old enthronement ceremony, the Papal Coronation or the version used since 1978, the Papal Inauguration. All that is required is that some formal ceremony take place. What form that takes is left up to the discretion of the incoming pope.

2005 papal conclave

The Papal election of 2005 was the first papal election to be held under this system.

Changes

On June 11, 2007 Pope Benedict XVI issued a Motu Proprio beginning with the words Constitutione Apostolica, subtitled De aliquibus mutationibus in normis de electione romani pontificis which reinstates the traditional norms for the majority required to elect the Pope. Unless changed by a future Pope, a two third majority will be required to elect a new Pope regardless of the number of ballots it takes to elect a new Pope.[1]

See also

External link

apostolic constitution (Latin constitutio apostolica) is the highest level of decree issued by the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. The use of the term constitution comes from Latin constitutio
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Pope John Paul II (Latin: Ioannes Paulus PP. II, Italian: Giovanni Paolo II, Polish: Jan Paweł II) born Karol Józef Wojtyła   (help info )
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February 22 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

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Pope Paul VI (Latin: Paulus PP. VI; Italian: Paolo VI), born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini (September 26, 1897 – August 6, 1978), reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 1963 to 1978.
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Romano Pontifici Eligendo was the Apostolic Constitution governing the election of popes that was promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1975. It instituted a number of far-reaching reforms in the process of electing popes.
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Of the episcopal sees whose foundation was attributed to the Apostles, five became of particular importance in the early centuries of Christianity:
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In Rome, the title of Supreme Pontiff (in Latin Pontifex Maximus) belongs to the chief religious official of the city.
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Peter, also known as Saint Peter, Shimon "Keipha" Ben-Yonah/Bar-Yonah, Simon Peter, Cephas and Keipha—original name Shimon or Simeon (Acts 15:14
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The Bishop of Rome is the bishop of the Holy See, more often referred to as the Pope.
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The Sacred College of Cardinals is the body of all Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church. The College plays two roles in the church:
  • participating in papal elections when the Holy See is vacant,[1] and

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Hymn and Pontifical March
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Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community. The word literally means out of communion, or no longer in communion. In some churches, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group.
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In arguments, compromise is a concept of finding agreement through communication, through a mutual acceptance of terms—often involving variations from an original goal or desire.
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ballot is a device (originally a small ball - see blackball) used to record choices made by voters. Each voter uses one ballot, and ballots are not shared. In the simplest elections, a ballot may be a simple scrap of paper on which each voter writes in the name of a candidate, but
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Acclamation was formerly one of the methods of papal election.

The method of electing the Roman Pontiff is contained in the constitutions of Gregory XV Æterni Patris Filius and Decet Romanum Pontificem, Urban VIII's constitution
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controversy or dispute is a matter of opinion over which parties actively disagree, argue, or debate. Controversies can range in size from private disputes between two individuals to large-scale disagreements between societies.
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Pope John XXII (1249 – December 4, 1334), born Jacques Duèze (or d'Euse), was pope from 1316 to 1334. He was the second Pope of the Avignon Papacy (1309-1377), elected by a conclave in Lyon assembled by Philip V of France.
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Pope Gregory XV (January 9, 1554 – July 8, 1623), born Alessandro Ludovisi, was pope from 1621, succeeding Paul V on February 9, 1621.

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He was born in Bologna to Count Pompeo Ludovisi and Camilla Bianchini, one of seven surviving siblings.
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Domus Sanctæ Marthæ (Latin for Saint Martha's House) is a building adjacent to Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City built during the reign of Pope John Paul II.
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Dormitory typically refers in the United States to sleeping quarters or entire buildings primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people, often boarding school, college or university students. The U.K.
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The Sistine Chapel (Italian: Cappella Sistina) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope, in the Vatican City.
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