選出教宗

Selecting a pope

選出教宗

 For centuries, leaders of the Roman Catholic Church have been chosen at the Vatican (梵諦岡) in private gatherings known as conclaves (秘密會議，特別指樞機主教選舉教宗的會議).

Much secrecy (秘密) surrounds this conclave and its historic vote, which usually happens in the days after a pope dies. But this year brings a rare twist (轉折): For the first time in 600 years, a pope has resigned.

The cardinal (天主教的紅衣樞機主教) electors

Technically, any Roman Catholic male can be elected pope. But since 1379, every pope has been selected from the College of Cardinals, the group casting the votes at the conclave.

Many of the cardinals are bishops (主教) an0d archbishops (樞機主教) appointed by the pope to assist in religious issues. Some work at the Vatican, but most are spread out worldwide running dioceses (主教轄區) or archdioceses.

When it's time to vote for a new pope, every cardinal under the age of 80 travels to Rome to participate. In attendance this time will be 115 cardinals, 67 of whom were appointed (指派) by Pope Benedict XVI, who stepped down last month at age 85.

本次參與教宗選舉的候選人地區分佈如下):

Africa : 11位

Asia : 10位

Europe : 60位

Latin America : 19位

North America : 14位

Oceania : 1位

The conclave

Once all the cardinals have arrived, the conclave begins with a special morning Mass (彌撒) in St. Peter's Basilica (長方形會堂、梵蒂岡的聖彼得大教堂). In the afternoon, the cardinals walk to the Sistine (羅馬教宗西克斯圖斯(Sixtus)的) Chapel (小禮拜堂)-- with its iconic Michelangelo frescoes (壁畫) -- to start the voting process.

The vote is held behind closed doors, and its secrecy is closely guarded. The chapel is checked for hidden microphones and cameras, and the cardinals are not allowed to talk about the proceedings with anyone outside the group. If they do, they could be excommunicated (逐出教會).

The vote

Inside the Sistine Chapel, paper ballots (投票用紙、選票) are passed out to each cardinal, who writes the name of their chosen candidate below the words "Eligo in Summen Pontificem" (Latin for "I elect as supreme (最高的、至上的) pontiff (羅馬教宗)"). Cardinals cannot vote for themselves.

When they're done, each cardinal -- in order of seniority (年資) -- walks to an altar (聖壇、祭壇) to ceremoniously (有禮儀地) place his folded ballot into a chalice (高腳酒杯). The votes are then counted up and the result is read to the cardinals.

If a cardinal has received two-thirds of the vote, he becomes the new pope.

If there is no pope, as many as four votes a day -- two in the morning and two in the afternoon -- can be held on the second, third and fourth days of the conclave. The fifth day is set aside to break for prayer and discussion, and then voting can continue for an additional seven rounds. After that, there's another break and the pattern (模式) resumes (恢復、繼續).

The white smoke

We can't get into the Sistine Chapel, but we'll know whether there's a new pope simply by watching the smoke that comes from the Vatican's rooftop.

Ballots are burned after the votes, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. If a pope hasn't been chosen, the ballots will be burned along with a chemical (化學藥劑) that makes the smoke black.

If the smoke is white, however, the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics have a new head of the church.

The pope is revealed

Traditionally, about 30 to 60 minutes after the white smoke, the new pope will appear on the balcony (陽台) overlooking St. Peter's Square. Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, if he's not elected pope himself, will announce the words "Habemus Papam" (Latin for "We have a pope") and introduce the new pope by his chosen papal name.

The new pope will then speak briefly and say a prayer. His formal coronation (加冕儀式) will take place days after his election. The last two popes have been inaugurated (就職、就任) in St. Peter's Cathedral.

*在這裡補充一些相關內容：

稍早進行的第一輪投票沒有結果，西斯汀教堂冒出黑煙，由於缺乏共識，預計可能要四五天之後，才會推選出新教宗。

最新消息：3/13晚間7時（當地時間）梵蒂岡西斯汀教堂屋頂的煙囪冒出白煙，宣告新教宗誕生，來自阿根廷的伯格里奧當選史上首位非歐洲出身的教宗。 經過不到兩天的閉門會議，在第5輪的投票後，現年76歲、來自阿根廷首都布宜諾斯艾利斯的樞機主教伯格里奧（Jorge Mario Bergoglio）獲得2/3以上選票，當選新任教宗。 選舉結果出來後，伯格里奧先前往「眼淚的房間」換上預先準備好的教宗服飾，大約1小時候到聖伯多祿大教堂（Saint-Peter Basilica）的陽台與信徒們打招呼。 樞機主教們進入西斯汀教堂開始新教宗的選舉會議後，每天會透過煙囪宣告選舉結果，黑煙代表尚未選出新教宗，白煙則代表新教宗已經誕生了。