Papal Conclave Gallery

Electing my second pope.

As technology made doing so possible, one of the first “big story” projects that we at KTBB took on was the 2005 conclave in Rome that elected Pope Benedict XVI. The technology was, by today's standards, still primitive, even though eight years isn't such a long time ago. The goal then, as it is now, was to do the best job we can of taking you there.

My wife, Lee, was with me on the trip in 2005. She was producer, fixer and grip. I was all alone on this excursion and I missed her terribly.

Here's what happened on Wednesday, March 13, 2013 in Rome with some inevitable comparison to April 19, 2005.

The Rain

Digital technology is a miracle. At one time, the major networks had to charter airplanes to fly film to New York so that it could be processed and edited before going on the air. All of that is now accomplished on a laptop computer with a decent internet connection.

But the cameras cost money and I like cameras and using good ones in the rain is a bit nerve-wracking. I kept praying for the rain to stop. I kept thinking that I enjoyed the 2005 conclave so much more because my feet weren't wet and I wasn't worried about ruining my equipment.

It drizzled, then rained, then drizzled all day Wednesday.

The only way to be there to capture the moment when a pope is announced is to wait — twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon — with eyes fixed on that chimney atop the Sistine Chapel.

Even if it's raining.

The Smoke

In 2005, every time the ballots were burned, it was hard to tell if the smoke was white or black. The truth be told, it was grey. It started out grey and got greyer if it was black smoke. It started out grey and stayed grey if it was white smoke.

Give the Roman Church credit. They have improved their smoke technology. According to the briefing this morning from the Holy See Press Office, they added a second stove, the newer square one, specifically to make colored smoke. They burn the ballots in the old stove. In the new, electronic stove (square one on the left), for black smoke they add potassium perchlorate, anthracene, and sulphur. For white smoke, they add potassium chlorate, lactose and resin. They use a cartridge of the appropriate chemicals containing five doses released over seven minutes. Voila! Blacker black smoke and whiter white smoke.

In prior conclaves, black pitch was mixed in with the ballots to make the black smoke. Wet straw was mixed in to make the white smoke.

The result was to vary the shade of grey. That led to great confusion and thus great consternation among journalists.

There was no confusion this time.

The Crowd

The crowd in 2005 was nicer. This time I got pushed and shoved. That did not happen in 2005. I think standing for hours in the rain made the people a bit edgier than they otherwise might have been. But I also believe that manners are not getting better anywhere. “Me first” is not isolated to America. I'm finding it just about everywhere I go.

The Moment

The crowd in 2005 was nicer. This time I got pushed and shoved. That did not happen in 2005. I think standing for hours in the rain made the people a bit edgier than they otherwise might have been. But I also believe that manners are not getting better anywhere. “Me first” is not isolated to America. I'm finding it just about everywhere I go.

The Catholic Church

I'm not Catholic. I'm a Methodist.

Still, I find myself rooting for the Catholic Church. Everyone who professes a Christian faith is descended from the church in Rome. For all of the faults of the Roman Church, and they are numerous, at its core the Catholic Church has been an institution dedicated to elevating humans that they might become more worthy of their belief in having been created in God's own image. The Christian faith in general, and the Catholic Church in particular, has, among other things, chastened its believers. The authority of the church mitigated the baser instincts of man. The teachings of the church have sought to summon our better angels.

As the church has forfeited moral authority due to ineptitude and self-inflicted wounds such as the clergy abuse scandals, nothing really good has rushed in to fill the resulting vacuum. (See the observation on the crowd above.)

I also believe that to the extent that the Roman Church suffers a loss of respect, that loss of respect negatively impacts all Christian congregations. For most of the world, Catholicism is Christianity.

Thus, I wish Pope Francis well. I'd like to see the Catholic Church get some of its mojo back.

Finally, here's the report I filed to run on KETK Channel 56 in Tyler this evening. It's a brief look at what it was like in and among the crowd on St. Peter's Square when a new pope was announced.

Pope Francis: Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio Elected

The new leader of the Catholic Church was revealed today to be Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina and he has taken the name of Pope Francis.

He stepped onto the Vatican balcony dressed in white for the first time to address the roaring crowd in St. Peter's Square.

Bergoglio, 76, is a Jesuit from Buenos Aires and is the first pope from South America.

The cardinals who elected the new pope looked out from surrounding balconies above the elated crowd.

French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the senior cardinal in the order of the deacons, stepped onto the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica to announce, “habemus papam,” Latin for “We have a pope.”

Tauran then revealed the pontiff's birth name and the name he has chosen for himself as pope.

The appearance of the new pontiff triggered the second roar from more than 100,000 people jammed into St. Peter's Square. The first was when the faithful, standing in a cold rain, spotted white smoke wafting over the Vatican, signaling the election was over. Moments later the bells of St. Peter's Basilica rang out, soon joined by church bells all over Rome.

The election was over quickly, coming on the second day of the conclave. The Associated Press reported that the election was sealed on the fifth ballot.

The newly elected 266th pope was moved into the Room of Tears where he was outfitted with his new papal vestments before proceeding to a scarlet-draped balcony to greet the world's 1.2 billion Catholics watching around the world.

The Vatican band and Swiss Guard marched into St. Peter's Square ahead of the new leader who they have been sworn to protect for centuries.

The new pope will likely celebrate his installation mass within the next week.

“Usually it's a five or six day interim between welcoming night and the celebration of his installation. He is already the pope,” Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta told ABC News in Rome. “The installation celebration is a festive, prayerful moment to give an opportunity for a larger community to pray with him in Eucharist and celebrate.”

The 115 cardinal electors began the conclave on Tuesday following the resignation of Benedict XVI, the first pontiff to resign in 600 years. At least a two-thirds majority — 77 votes — was required to elect the next pope.

The new pope is then expected to step onto the balcony to greet the crowd gathered below in St. Peter's Square.

A quick primer on St. Peter's Square.

Almost 100 years after a four-thousand year old Egyptian obelisk was placed at this site, the Italian Renaissance genius Gian Lorenzo Bernini was given the task of making the forecourt of St. Peter's Basilica worthy of the basilica itself.

At the direction of Pope Alexander VII, Bernini took the obelisk and a fountain to the right of the obelisk as you look at the facade of the basilica, and created a massive space so that “the greatest number of people could see the pope give his blessing.”

The Colonnades

From 1656 to 1667, Bernini created the colossal piazza using matching Tuscan colonnades, eHach four columns deep. The colonnades are symmetrical and encircle the piazza from the north and the south sides. They semi-circular colonnades represent the embrace of the “maternal arms of Mother Church.”

To keep the symmetry created by the colonnades, Bernini created a fountain to match Carlo Maderno's fountain of 1513, and placed it to the left of the obelisk as you look at the facade of St. Peter's Basilica.

The Paving

In order that the square not be a sea of cobblestones, the paving is varied by radiating lines of travertine. In 1817 circular stones set to mark the tip of the obelisk's shadow at noon as the sun entered each of the signs of the zodiac. There are also circular stones to mark the equinoxes and the solstices, effectively turning the square and the obelisk into a giant sundial.

The Obelisk

Standing at 135 feet from base to cross on top at the center of St. Peter's Square is an Egyptian obelisk.

“I'll meet you at the obelisk,” is heard dozens, if not hundreds of times per day in Rome. Any Roman who hears those words knows exactly where to meet.

The obelisk was originally erected at Heliopolis by an unknown pharaoh of the Fifth Dynasty (c. 2494 BC – 2345 BC). The emperor Augustus had the obelisk brought to the Julian Forum in Alexandria, where it stood until 37 AD.

The emperor Caligula ordered it moved to Rome and had it placed in the center of the Circus of Nero.

Under the direction of Pope Sixtus V, the obelisk was moved to its current site in 1586. The Vatican Obelisk is the only obelisk in Rome (and there are close to 100) that has not toppled since ancient Roman times.

One hundred years later, Bernini used the obelisk as the center of his colossal square.

Via della Concilliazione

The approach to St. Peter's Square from Castel St. Angelo was dramatically revised by Mussolini starting in 1936. The buildings that obscured the view of St. Peter's were demolished and the avenue that runs from the Tiber River at Ponte St. Angelo to the opening of St. Peter's Square was created.

Finished in 1950, the Via della Concilliazione (Road of the Conciliation) was intended to honor the Lateran Treaty of 1929, which gave formal recognition to the city state of Vatican City and ended decades of tension between the Holy See and the Italian government.

Here's the story that we ran on KETK NBC 56.

The conclave is underway.

In what might be interpreted by some as allegorical representation of the clouds hanging over the Catholic Church, the conclave to elect Pope Benedict's successor got underway here in Rome under cloudy, occasionally rainy skies.

If there are clouds hanging over the church and if today's weather is metaphorical, then the good news is that patches of blue sky showed themselves from time-to-time and the rain was not continuous. It really wasn't all that bad at all.

Here is the scene on St. Peter's Square as the Papal Conclave got underway.

Sister, have you heard about eBay?

Less than a minute before I was to do a live shot on the air from St. Peter's Square in Rome, this Italian nun walked up to me to show me a postcard. She had a sweet smile and I resisted the urge to run her off because of my pending live shot. I smiled back and let her show me what he was holding.

Look very carefully in the lower right hand corner, starting in the lower corner of the marble covering John Paul II's grave, and you will see that the card has been written upon. The writing, in what appears to be a shaky hand, is an inscription to her in Italian and the signature of Pope Benedict XVI.

Pretty cool, actually. Almost cool enough to be worth missing the live shot on the air for.

It was sprinkling, then raining, then stopping, then sprinkling again. So in my best pigdin Italian, I urged her to protect her treasure from the rain.

Pride is a sin according to Catholic teaching. One suspects that the pride she takes in owning this post card signed by the Holy Father is the only sin this kindly sister has to offer come time for confession.

An American pope? It's possible.

It was at one time unthinkable that an American could be elected pope. But according to La Repubblica, the largest daily newspaper in Italy, there is such discontent on the part of the non-Roman cardinals against the Roman cardinals that a dark horse candidate could emerge.

One such dark horse mentioned by the paper is Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York.

Father Thomas Reese discussed the anti-Roman Curia sentiment in my interview with him Saturday.

What the next pope faces: Father Thomas J. Reese

Father Thomas J. Reese is a Jesuit scholar and one of the “go to” experts on the Vatican. His 1996 book “Inside the Vatican” is an indispensable reference for anyone studying or covering the internal workings of the Catholic Church.

Father Reese is very candid in his assessments of the state of the Roman Catholic Church and the considerable challenges that will be faced by the man the Cardinal Electors here in Rome choose to lead the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.

Father Reese was kind enough to give us some time over the weekend in advance of Tuesday's beginning of the conclave to select the next pope.

Note: Apologies from the interviewer. Logistics dictated the use of only one microphone. Questions are shown on the screen in text to aid the viewer.

Taking you on the inside.

One of the things we are able to accomplish by covering a story like the election of a new pope is to take you places that would be hard, or even impossible to get to, without the kind of credentials that members of the media often have the privilege to obtain.

That's precisely what we did Saturday afternoon in Rome in advance of the conclave to elect a new pope set to begin on Tuesday.

The Sistine Chapel

If you are ever a tourist in Rome, the Sistine Chapel is a must-see. The chapel gets its name by virtue of having been commissioned by Pope Sixtus IV. The first mass was celebrated in the chapel on August 9, 1473.

The Sistine Chapel is famous for two things: its frescoed ceiling and altar wall, both by Michelangelo, and as the room in which popes are selected.

The Sistine Chapel has been closed to the public for over a week as workers prepare for the conclave that begins Tuesday, March 12. But selected members of the media were given access to the interior of the Sistine Chapel even as preparations were underway.

So here is a little tour of the most famous chapel in the world as it prepares to again take part in the selection of a new pope.

Michelangelo's Famous Ceiling

The Sistine Chapel is rather plain on the outside. It is inside that it stands apart from all other places of worship. That fact is largely attributable to Michelangelo.

Michelangelo was a sculptor. So he said as loudly and as vehemently as he could. Pope Julius II, though having commissioned Michelangelo to sculpt his funeral monument, was having none of it. In 1508, the pope insisted that Michelangelo sign a contract to begin work on the fresco that would replace the depictions of constellations that had adorned the chapel since its completion 27 years earlier.

It was backbreaking work for Michelangelo. Fresco is not painting. Paint is the application of pigment to a surface. Fresco is coloring the very material that forms the surface.

In order to execute the ceiling fresco, Michelangelo constructed a scaffold and worked on his back day-in and day-out for the four year s it took to complete the work.

The image shown here is one of the most famous scenes from the Sistine ceiling. Called The Creation of Adam, it is one of nine scenes from the Old Testament that form the heart of the Sistine Chapel ceiling.

The Last Judgment

Some 20 years after completing the ceiling, Michelangelo was again conscripted, this time by Pope Clement VII, to execute a fresco in the Sistine Chapel. This time, the art was to adorn the wall behind the altar.

The Last Judgment was begun in 1536 and finished in 1541.

In this scene, we see a beardless, muscular Christ having come again to fulfill the promise and rendering God's final judgment of humanity. To his right go those who have earned salvation. To his left are those condemned to eternal damnation.

The Conclave

It is with the figure of Christ in God's final judgment staring down upon them that the 115 Cardinal Electors will choose a new pope. After having processed up the stairway shown above into the Sistine Chapel, and having processed up this ramp past the transenna or screen (there to separate pilgrims and worshippers from the pope and other members of the clergy) to sit in four rows, two on either side of the chapel.

Once inside, the Latin words extra omnes are pronounced, meaning, “everybody out.”

The White Smoke and the Black Smoke

Most know that when a ballot of the cardinals is taken, those standing on St. Peter's Square or watching on TV around the world will see either black smoke or white smoke emerge from the chimney that is put in place atop the Sistine Chapel especially for papal conclaves.

Know one is to ever know how any particular cardinal voted. Once ballots are counted, they are threaded onto a string and the string of ballots is thrown into this furnace, also put in place especially for conclaves.

Then, substances are added to affect the color of the resulting smoke up the chimney. Black smoke for no pope, white smoke for Habemus Papam, “We have a pope.”

What happens on Tuesday?

The most watched chimney in the world is the one that issues black smoke when the College of Cardinals has failed to reach a two-thirds majority vote for a new pope, or white smoke when a new pope has been selected.

But the chimney is not a permanent part of the Sistine Chapel roof. It is put in place specifically for papal conclaves. On Saturday, March 9, workers at the Vatican secured the chimney to the roof in advance of the papal conclave, set to begin Tuesday, March 12.

So what happens on Tuesday? For the answer to that question, we asked National Catholic Reporter Vatican Analyst Father Thomas Reese.

Conclave beginning set.

The process of actually selecting the successor to Pope Benedict XVI will get underway with the beginning of the conclave on Tuesday, March 12.

The 115 members of the College of Cardinals that are under the age of 80 will begin Tuesday morning with a pro eligendo Romano Pontifice (for the election of the Roman Pontiff) mass in St. Peter's Basilica. They will then process into the Sistine Chapel to the accompaniment of a choir singing the Litany of the Saints. The Sistine Chapel door will be locked and the conclave will begin.

The locking in of the cardinal electors is what gives the process its name. Conclave is the Anglicized version of the Italian “con chiave,” literally, “with a key.” In ancient times it was sometimes difficult to get the College of Cardinals to bear down on actually selecting a pope. When it took from November 1269 to September 1271 to finally elect Pope Gregory X, the new pontiff instituted the practice of sequestering the cardinals in spartan conditions largely devoid of creature comforts.

At one time, the cardinal electors were literally not allowed to leave the Sistine Chapel until a pope had been selected. Today, however, there are apartments in which the cardinals eat and sleep. But there is no TV, no radio, no Internet and there are no phones. The cardinals are kept cut off from the outside world until their work is done.

No one expects a long conclave. The conclave to elect Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany Pope Benedict XVI convened on the morning of April 18 and was over with the announcement of Ratzinger's selection by 6:00 p.m. on April 19.

All the cardinals are here.

There are 115 cardinals in the Catholic Church under the age of 80 and thus eligible to vote in conclave to elect a new pope. The last of them, Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man of Vietnam, arrived in Vatican City yesterday.

The church, so far avoiding setting a date to begin the election process until all cardinals have arrived, may now do so and that decision could come down as early as this afternoon (Friday, March 8

Much of the American media covering the conclave is just now arriving, having been delayed by the northeast winter storm that snarled airline schedules. But with cardinals in town and with the American media now in town, it seems that the process can get underway.

Conclave Runs on Modern Twists to Ancient Rules

Here is a look at what happens between those two moments:

The church, so far avoiding setting a date to begin the election process until all cardinals have arrived, may now do so and that decision could come down as early as this afternoon (Friday, March 8

WHO'S INSIDE: Under a rule change by Pope Paul VI in 1970, cardinals who are younger than 80 at the time the papacy become vacant are eligible to vote. This time, two cardinals squeaked under the age limit, since their 80th birthdays come just after Benedict XVI's Feb. 28 resignation. As electing pontiffs is considered their most important job, all eligible cardinals are expected to participate in the conclave. So far, only two of the 117 qualified “princes” of the church have begged off — a seriously ill Indonesian cardinal and a Scottish cardinal who acknowledged sexually inappropriate conduct.

MUM'S THE WORD: One by one, cardinals place their hand on a book of Gospels and swear to follow the conclave's strict and detailed rules, including never to reveal what went on during the conclave. But the adage “rules are made to be broken” seems to hold true here — even at the risk of excommunication. Months after Benedict XVI was elected in 2005, excerpts of an anonymous cardinal's diary were published. Among the unverifiable revelations: Argentine Jesuit Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was the German's closest rival in the voting.

NO TWEETING OR TEXTING: While cardinals are sequestered in the Vatican City's hotel, the modern Santa Marta residence, the Vatican wants to make sure the Holy Spirit is the only influence on the red-hatted prelates as they vote. That means no TV, radio, newspapers, cell phones or landlines. The precaution cuts both ways. No info getting in OR out. Cardinals with Twitter accounts will have to be tweet-less during the conclave. The rule-bending diarist (see above) did note that one cardinal slipped out after dinner at the hotel, to puff on his cigar.

EAVESDROPPING: While the elector cardinals swear themselves to secrecy, there's no such oath for non-Vatican types. Vatican security forces will therefore sweep the Sistine Chapel for any hidden microphones or other eavesdropping devices. Jamming equipment installed under a false floor should be able to detect any cellphones or other electronic devices potentially hidden in the folds of cardinals' crimson robes or behind the fabric skirting the simple tables that will double as desks for the cardinals when they fill out their ballots.

INSPIRATION: While no chatting is allowed during the conclave, cardinals can always seek inspiration from higher levels. Just above their heads is Michelangelo's exquisitely frescoed ceiling. And if they need a reminder about the oath of secrecy, on the wall behind the chapel's altar is the artist's “Last Judgment” — with its frightening depictions of the damned.

LATIN BALLOTS: Even the words the cardinals will write on the ballots will be in Latin, with each of them prefacing his choice for pontiff with the words “Eligo in summen pontificem,” or “I elect as supreme pontiff” and then the name. Ballots are folded and stuffed into an urn to await being counted.

SMOKE SIGNALS: After the ballots are counted, they are tied together with needle and thread. They are then placed in an iron stove, whose narrow chimney will channel the smoke up into the outside world, where the faithful will watch in St. Peter's Square to see if the smoke is black — no pope yet — or white — a pope has been chosen.

Confusion has reigned at times. In 1958, the damp straw that cardinals had tossed into their burning ballots apparently didn't catch fire, and the smoke was white instead of black. After John Paul's death in 2005, the Vatican used special chemicals in an effort to make the color clear — with only limited success. If in doubt, don't just look. Listen. The bells of St. Peter's Basilica will be set ringing when a new pope has been chosen.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE: In centuries past, conclaves dragged on for weeks and months, sometimes years. In a 13th-century conclave, which stretched for weeks, a leading candidate died. In these quick-paced times, it is unlikely that the conclave will go on more than a few days. Except for the first day, when only one round of balloting takes place, cardinals will vote twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon until a pope is chosen. The longest conclave of the last century went on for 14 rounds over five days, and yielded Pius XI — in 1922.

This century's only conclave — which brought in Benedict as pope — went four rounds over two days before the Latin announcement rang out across St. Peter's Square from the basilica's balcony: “Habemus papam” — We have a pope!

Cardinals Begin Pre-Conclave Meetings Amid Scandal

Cardinals from around the world gathered Monday inside the Vatican for their first round of meetings before the conclave to elect the next pope, amid scandals inside and out of the Vatican and the continued reverberations of Benedict XVI's decision to retire.

Cardinals were treated like rock stars as they entered the Vatican on Monday morning, with television crews swarming around the red-capped churchmen and their handlers pushing their way through the crowds.

“A Latin American Pope is possible, everything is possible!” said Portuguese Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins as he entered.

The core agenda item is to set the date for the conclave and set in place procedures to prepare for it, including closing the Sistine Chapel to visitors and getting the Vatican hotel cleared out and de-bugged, lest anyone try to listen in on the secret conversations of the cardinals.

But a date may not be agreed upon Monday as the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, has said the date won't be finalized until all cardinals have arrived in Rome.

The first day of discussion was again rocked by revelations of scandal, with Scottish Cardinal Keith O'Brien admitting that he had engaged in sexual misconduct not befitting a priest, archbishop or cardinal.

O'Brien last week resigned as archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh and said he wouldn't participate in the conclave after four men came forward with allegations that he had acted inappropriately with them — the first time a cardinal has stayed away from a conclave because of personal scandal.

Separately, the Vatican is still reeling from the fallout of the scandal over leaked papal documents, and the investigation by three cardinals into who was behind it.

Italian news reports have been rife with unsourced reports about the contents of the cardinals' dossier. Even if the reports are false, as the Vatican maintains, the leaks themselves confirmed a fairly high level of dysfunction within the Vatican bureaucracy, with intrigues, turf battles and allegations of corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the highest levels of the church hierarchy.

In one of his last audiences before resigning, Benedict met with the three cardinals who prepared the report and decided that their dossier would remain secret. But he gave them the go-ahead to answer cardinals' questions about its contents.

Another topic facing the cardinals is the reason they're here in the first place: Benedict's resignation and its implications. His decision to end 600 years of tradition and retire rather than stay on the job until death has completely altered the concept of the papacy, and cardinals haven't shied from weighing in about the implications for the next pope.

Your Handy Dandy Guide to Becoming the Pope

Pope Benedict XVI is set to retire in just three short days on February 28. That's going to leave one big gaping hole in the Catholic church, which its cardinals are tasked with filling. So, if you're thinking about becoming the next pope, there are some hoops you'll need to jump through first.

For starters, the future pope has to be a man and he has to be Catholic. If you have that down, then you should know you have to be “super holy” and “wicked smart,” as blogger/Reverend James Martin puts it.

Of course, you'll also need the right credentials. For example, you have to first be a member of the elite College of Cardinals, the body which votes to elect a pope. There are only about 200 of these cardinals around the world, and they are chosen from the pool of bishops (there are about 5,000 bishops worldwide) by the pope himself. They typically wear lovely red capes and jaunty hats that resemble Chinese takeout containers. Until the age of 80, cardinals are responsible for voting on the next pope. After 80, they're still cardinals, but can't vote anymore.

In order to become a bishop (to qualify to become a cardinal), you must have first served as a priest for at least five years. And to become ordained as a priest, you typically need a college degree in Catholic philosophy, a Masters degree in divinity, and you have to vow to remain celibate and unmarried. (Watch this helpful video by C.G.P Grey for a more thorough breakdown of what it takes to be a pope.)

When you've finally risen to the rank of cardinal, you should have a really good chance of becoming pope, right? Technically, yes. Except, that the current pope has to die first or retire. Lucky for the current cardinals, this is the first time a pope has retired in 600 years, so you probably shouldn't count this as the best example.

There are other, less official, things that can help if you want to be pope. It'd probably help to be European-born. There's never been a non-European pope and most theological experts say the next one will also likely be European. That's because the College of Cardinals, which was originally made up of the clergy of Rome, is mostly European to this day. That may be a reflection of the fact that the pope tends to choose his the cardinals himself. Pope picks cardinals, cardinals pick pope, and so on.

It wasn't until the 1960's that the Church made efforts to incorporate regional diversity by bringing in cardinals from the growing Catholic populations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Still, just about half of the members who will vote on the next pope are European and less than one fifth are from Latin America. Italy has the most cardinal-electors with 28, and the United States has the next most electors with 11.

So, if the pope does die or retire, and you happen to hold the coveted title of cardinal, your fellow cardinals will have to elect you by a two-thirds majority. While the particular election process is determined by the prior pope, and remains very hush-hush, it typically entails the “elector” cardinals casting secret ballots four times a day, in closed meetings, until the two-thirds majority is reached. If a pope is picked during one of those votes, the Vatican will send up white smoke signals to announce to the public that there is a new pope. And if no consensus is reached, the Vatican sends up black smoke signals. This can take days, weeks, months, and sometimes years.

For this round of elections, Vatican experts told USA Today that the top five contenders are Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, Archbishop of Genoa; Cardinal Marc Ouellet, former Archbishop of Quebec; Cardinal Angelo Scola, Archbishop of Milan; Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture; and Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, head of the Vatican's office for Eastern Churches.

Sorry if you don't see your name on that list. There's always next time.

Pope to Be Called ‘Emeritus Pope'

Pope Benedict XVI will be known as “emeritus pope” in his retirement and will continue to wear a white cassock, the Vatican announced Tuesday, again fueling concerns about potential conflicts arising from having both a reigning and a retired pope.

The pope's title and what he would wear have been a major source of speculation ever since Benedict stunned the world and announced he would resign on Thursday, the first pontiff to do so in 600 years.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Benedict himself had made the decision in consultation with others, settling on “Your Holiness Benedict XVI” and either emeritus pope or emeritus Roman pontiff.

Lombardi said he didn't know why Benedict had decided to drop his other main title: bishop of Rome.

In the two weeks since Benedict's resignation announcement, Vatican officials had suggested that Benedict would likely resume wearing the traditional black garb of a cleric and would use the title “emeritus bishop of Rome” so as to not create confusion with the future pope.

Benedict's decision to call himself emeritus pope and to keep wearing white is sure to fan concern voiced privately by some cardinals about the awkward reality of having two popes, both living within the Vatican walls.

Adding to the concern is that Benedict's trusted secretary, Monsignor Georg Gaenswein, will be serving both pontiffs — living with Benedict at the monastery inside the Vatican and keeping his day job as prefect of the new pope's household.

Asked about the potential conflicts, Lombardi was defensive, saying the decisions had been clearly reasoned and were likely chosen for the sake of simplicity.

“I believe it was well thought out,” he said.

Benedict himself has made clear he is retiring to a lifetime of prayer and meditation “hidden from the world.” However, he still will be very present in the tiny Vatican city-state, where his new home is right next door to the Vatican Radio and has a lovely view of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica.

While he will no longer wear his trademark red shoes, Benedict has taken a liking to a pair of hand-crafted brown loafers made for him by artisans in Leon, Mexico, and given to him during his 2012 visit. He will wear those in retirement, Lombardi said.

Lombardi also elaborated on the College of Cardinals meetings that will take place after the papacy becomes vacant — crucial gatherings in which cardinals will discuss the problems facing the church and set a date for the start of the conclave to elect Benedict's successor.

The first meeting isn't now expected until Monday, Lombardi said, since the official convocation to cardinals to come to Rome will only go out on Friday — the first day of what's known as the “sede vacante,” or the vacancy between papacies.

In all, 115 cardinals under the age of 80 are expected in Rome for the conclave to vote on who should become the next pope; two other eligible cardinals have already said they are not coming, one from Britain and another from Indonesia. Cardinals who are 80 and older can join the College meetings but won't participate in the conclave or vote.

Benedict on Monday gave the cardinals the go-ahead to move up the start date of the conclave — tossing out the traditional 15-day waiting period. But the cardinals won't actually set a date for the conclave until they begin meeting officially Monday.

Lombardi also further described Benedict's final 48 hours as pope: On Tuesday, he was packing, arranging for documents to be sent to the various archives at the Vatican and separating out the personal papers he will take with him into retirement.

On Wednesday, Benedict will hold his final public general audience in St. Peter's Square — an event that has already seen 50,000 ticket requests. He won't greet visiting prelates or VIPs as he normally does at the end but will greet some visiting leaders — from Slovakia, San Marino, Andorra and his native Bavaria — privately afterwards.

On Thursday, the pope meets with his cardinals in the morning and then flies by helicopter at 5 p.m. to Castel Gandolfo, the papal residence south of Rome. He will greet parishioners there from the palazzo's loggia (balcony) — his final public act as pope.

And at 8 p.m., the exact time at which his retirement becomes official, the Swiss Guards standing outside the doors of the palazzo at Castel Gandolfo will go off duty, their service protecting the head of the Catholic Church now finished.

Benedict's personal security will be assured by Vatican police, Lombardi said.

Pope Blesses Huge Crowd in St. Peter's Square

His arms outstretched in a symbolic embrace, Pope Benedict XVI blessed tens of thousands of cheering people on Sunday in one of his last appearances as pontiff from his window overlooking St. Peter's Square.

Last week, 85-year-old Benedict shocked the world by announcing his resignation. He will step down on Feb. 28, planning to retreat to a life of prayer in a monastery behind the Vatican's ancient walls.

The noontime appointment in the vast cobblestone square also served as a kind of trial run for how Rome will handle the logistics, including crowd security, as the city braces for faithful to flock to Rome for the election and installation of the cardinal who will succeed Benedict as leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.

Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno said upward of 100,000 people turned out Sunday and that everything went smoothly. But while there was still space in St. Peter's Square for more, many couldn't get in — or easily out — because entrances from the main boulevard were just too narrow.

The huge crowd — including parents with babies in carriages and strollers, elderly people using canes, and the disabled in wheelchairs — tried to squeeze through two spaces police left open in the metal barricades edging the square. Some people panicked or called out to police to help them get in or out of the square.

Pilgrims and tourists had an easier time if they entered through spaces in the elegant colonnade that architect Gianlorenzo Bernini designed to cradle the sides of the St. Peter's Square.

Benedict seemed touched by the outpouring of affection after his decision to go down in history as the first pontiff in some 600 years to resign. The pontiff told cardinals last week that he no longer has the mental and physical stamina to vigorously shepherd the church.

Looking into hazy sunshine Sunday, he smiled shyly at the sight of the crowd below, filled with pilgrims waving their countries' flags and holding up banners with words of support. One group of Italians raised a banner which read: “We love you.”

Speaking in Italian, the pope told the cheering crowd: “Thanks for turnout in such numbers! This, too, is a sign of the affection and the spiritual closeness that you are giving me in these days.” He stretched out his arms as if to embrace the faithful from across the vast expanse of the square.

Benedict made no direct reference to his departure. But in his comments to Spanish-speaking pilgrims he asked the faithful to “continue praying for me and for the next pope.”

The traditional Sunday window appearance normally attracts a few thousand pilgrims and tourists, but this time city officials prepared for as many as 150,000 people seeking to witness one of Benedict's last opportunities to connect with the masses.

Authorities also used the event as a kind of trial run for the crowds expected to flock to the square in the coming weeks for the next pope's installation.

Following tradition, Benedict's successor will make his first papal appearance by stepping onto the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica on the square, shortly after puffs of white smoke from the Sistine Chapel chimney tell the world the cardinals have made their secret selection.

On Sunday, extra buses and subway trains ran from Rome's train stations to near the Vatican, and free shuttle vans offered lifts to the elderly or disabled.

Mayor Alemanno has asked Italy's government to put aside its austerity agenda and give Rome a few million euros (dollars) to help pay for security, garbage pickup and other logistics for the Vatican crowds.

On Sunday, several in the crowd were exhausted and shaken by their attempts to get into the square between the metal barriers.

“You can't invite thousands of people and then bottleneck the entrance and exit to the square,” said Gianbattista Di Rese, an Italian among the distressed. “Imagine if someone had had a bomb. There could have been hundreds of dead.” He got into the square but was stymied trying to get out.

Tourists must go through metal detectors before entering St. Peter's Basilica, but there is no such security to stroll the square.

An Associated Press reporter saw many people give up. Some started to panic and yell at police to do something to ease the bottleneck.

Those who arrived hours before the pope appeared could enter the square with ease for a chance to join in the show of support for him. “We wanted to wish him well,” said Amy Champion, a tourist from Wales. “It takes a lot of guts to take the job and even more guts … to quit.”

But some were dismayed that Benedict broke with the centuries-old tradition that popes serve till their last breath.

A youth group Militia Christi (Latin for Christ's Militia) held a hand-painted banner asking the pope to stay. “We are asking him to change his mind. He is the good of the church,” said youth GiovanBattista Varricchio.

No decision has been announced on a date for the conclave to elect Benedict's successor, but the Vatican has suggested that it might start sooner than March 15, the earliest date possible under current rules, which require a 15-20 day waiting period after the papacy becomes vacant. This has set off a debate whether such a change could be justified and whether it might benefit Rome-based cardinals who because of their positions at the church's headquarters can count on their acquaintance with cardinals around the world.

“Church law should not be changed on a whim,” said the Rev. Thomas Reese, an American Vatican expert. He said changing law “would be disruptive.”

On Sunday evening, the pope began a customary week of Lenten period reflection ahead of Easter, and his next public remarks won't come until Feb. 24, when he returns for his final studio window appearance over the square.

In his remarks to the throng Sunday, he told the faithful that during Lent “the church, which is mother and teacher, calls all its members to renew themselves in spirit, to reorient themselves decisively toward God, rejecting pride and egoism to live in love.”

Benedict has chosen an Italian cardinal to preach to him and Vatican clergy during closed-door sessions in this week of meditation and prayer. The prelate, Gianfranco Ravasi, heads the Holy See's culture office and is touted by some Vatican watchers as a leading candidate to be the next pope. But other observers contend he is heavily identified with one of the rival blocs of Italian prelates in the Vatican's apparatus, which could hurt his chances.