Pope Francis: Toward the Conclave?

Pope Francis has confirmed Cardinals Giovanni Battista Re and Leonardo Sandri as Dean and Vice Dean, respectively, of the College of Cardinals. The news may appear at first blush to be of the housekeeping variety – and it is – but housekeeping can say a lot..

Re and Sandri have already turned 80, which means neither will enter the Sistine Chapel to elect the next pontiff. Inside the Sistine Chapel, therefore, it will be Cardinal Pietro Parolin – the Holy See’s Secretary of State – who will manage the business in the Dean’s stead.

It is not a small thing to have one man – Re – managing the pre-conclave from the official announcement of the vacancy of the See of Peter to the heady Extra omnes! when the doors to the Sistine close and the cardinals get about their business in earnest.

First, a little history is needed to understand how things work.

Cardinals are divided into three categories: the cardinal “bishops,” the highest rank in the College of Cardinals; then the cardinal priests; and the cardinal deacons. This structure derives from the ancient structure of the Church of Rome. Cardinal deacons were in ancient times entrusted with administrating the six offices of the Lateran Palace (the See of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope) and the seven departments of Rome, including care for the poor. After Pope Sixtus V, they became fourteen – two per department – and were given a “deaconry” to administer:, a church in Rome for which they were responsible.

The cardinal priests were those entrusted with the care of the most ancient Churches in Rome, called “titles,” by tradition connected with a Roman parish. After ten full years as a cardinal deacon can “opt” to become a cardinal priest.

The cardinal bishops are those who once led the suburban dioceses in Rome.

The suburbicarian See of Albano was assigned last February 6 to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, prefect of the Dicastery of Bishops, promoted from the Order of Cardinal Priests.

Albano had been the cardinalatial see of Angelo Sodano, the powerful Secretary of State during the last years of John Paul II (and the first of Benedict XVI), who died last year.

Among the suburbicarian sees, that of Ostia is permanently assigned to the Cardinal Dean of the College, in addition to the see of which he was already titular. The cardinal bishops were generally six – one for each suburbicarian diocese and that of Ostia. Paul VI extended the rank of cardinal bishops also to cardinals who, at the same time, were patriarchs of the Catholic Churches of the Eastern Rite.

In 2018, Pope Francis made a choice that broke with tradition. He elevated some cardinals not connected to the suburbicarian sees to cardinal bishops.

Cardinal Sandri was one of the cardinals who was co-opted into the Order of Bishops, together with Cardinal Parolin, Cardinal Marc Ouellet (then prefect of the Congregation for Bishops), and Cardinal Fernando Filoni (then prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples).

In practice, these cardinals had their titles (they were all cardinal priests, except Filoni, a cardinal deacon) raised to the rank of suburbicarian see, with all the rights that elevation entails.

The other cardinal bishops are Tarcisio Bertone, of the see of Frascati; Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, of the See of Palestrina; Cardinal Re, who, as Dean, has the title of Ostia and that of Sabina–Poggio Mirteto; and Cardinal Francis Arinze, of the See of Velletri Segni.

The suburbicarian see of Porto Santa Rufina has been assigned to Cardinal Beniamino Stella after the death of Cardinal Roger Etchegaray in 2019.

All these cardinal bishops are over 80 years old. None of them will vote in a conclave. Pope Francis’ choice, therefore, to avoid going to the Conclave without even one cardinal bishop was to make an ad hoc decree derogating from Canons 350 and 352 of the Code of Canon Law.

Pope Francis had also reformed the position of the Dean of the College of Cardinals, establishing that the office should last five years. Elected by the cardinal bishops, the Dean has the task of presiding over the Conclave for the election of the Pope.

The Dean is also responsible for communicating the Pope’s death to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See and to the heads of state, representing the Holy See during the sede vacante and asking the elected Pope if he accepts the election.

By confirming Cardinals Re and Sandri, Pope Francis bypassed the cardinals, who would have been called to vote for the new Dean shortly.

This decision is food for thought.

The cardinals might have chosen Cardinal Pietro Parolin as Dean, who is also a constant point of reference because he heads the Secretariat of State. It would have been a logical choice. Parolin would, therefore, have been responsible for celebrating the Pope’s funeral, leading the general congregations—that is, the pre-conclave meetings of all the cardinals, including the non-electors—and then managing the Conclave.

Pope Francis, however, seems to prefer that Cardinal Re lead the general congregations. One can only speculate as to why. One reason seems to be that Cardinal Parolin’s authority could be decisive in the election of the new Pope. Pope Francis wants to do everything possible to ensure that the direction he has given the Church so far remains.

Hence, the robust promotion of Cardinal Bustillo was honored with a specific trip to Corsica that was organized in an impromptu manner. Hence, the promotion of Prevost to the Order of Bishops, as it is considered  he could be a candidate for mediation in a stalemate in the conclave. This also goes a ways toward explaining why there have been been no other promotions to the Order of Bishops, even though another titular see has been vacant since 2017.

In this way, a balance is maintained among the senior members of the College of Cardinals.

It is true that we are speculating, but the experience of this pontificate shows that nothing happens by chance and that Francis has his own way of ensuring a balance that does not conflict with his way of seeing things.

Also, there has been talk of reforming the General Congregations for some time.

This reform has not yet happened, and – if it were never to occur due to the sudden death of the Pope – there would be a decision-making process that Pope Francis has not outlined but has inherited. We know that the Francis’s reforms never pass through documents but through people and extemporaneous choices. This is demonstrated by the dozens of motu proprio used by Pope Francis to legislate, together with the many rescripta ex audientia.

Is this a move by Pope Francis to secure his legacy?

It is possible, indeed, highly probable. Is this a way for Pope Francis to express dislike of the potential choices of the College of Cardinals? It is possible, indeed, likely.

Pope Francis has often intervened, bypassing the decisions of sovereign entities, Catholic movements, and religious congregations. This is the paradox of the synodal Church of Pope Francis. It is synodal as long as the Pope governs the processes.

When the processes depart from the papal will, they are directly reported to the Pope, who cancels every democratic procedure and decides personally. It is a sign of the Pope’s lack of trust in his brothers and a sense of encirclement that Pope Francis feels increasingly present at the tail end of his pontificate.