11 TV Hill: Insight from Baltimore on selecting next pope
ALL THE. A MOMENT STEEPED IN CENTURIES OF TRADITION. THE CATHOLIC FAITHFUL LINING UP FOR HOURS TO PAY THEIR FINAL RESPECTS TO THE PEOPLE’S POPE. POPE FRANCIS. ALL HIS LIFE HE VISITED SO MANY COUNTRIES, KISSING THE FLOOR, KISSING THE FEET OF EVERYBODY. WHEN I GOT IN THERE TODAY, I WAS THE ONE GIVING HIM THAT KISS. HE IS GONE. BUT HIS LEGACY REMAINS IN OUR HEARTS. WHILE THE TRADITION OF LAYING A POPE TO REST DATES BACK CENTURIES, POPE FRANCIS OPTED TO BREAK WITH CERTAIN CUSTOMS. HE DEPARTED THE WORLD AS HE LIVED IN IT, SIMPLY AND WITH HUMILITY. NOW, THE COLLEGE OF CARDINALS PREPARES FOR ITS NEXT TASK, ELECTING POPE FRANCIS’S SUCCESSOR, A TRADITION SHROUDED IN SECRECY KNOWN AS THE CONCLAVE. HI EVERYONE, I’M JASON NEWTON. WELCOME TO 11 TV HILL. IT HAS BEEN 12 YEARS SINCE THE CATHOLIC CHURCH APPOINTED A POPE AND THE RESIGNATION OF POPE BENEDICT XVI LED UP TO THE LAST CONCLAVE. THAT CONCLAVE WAS ALSO HISTORIC, BECOMING THE FIRST TIME IN NEARLY 600 YEARS A POPE VOLUNTARILY STEPPED DOWN. THE COLLEGE OF CARDINALS WILL HAVE PLENTY TO CONSIDER WHEN SELECTING POPE FRANCIS’S SUCCESSOR. JOINING US NOW FOR SOME INSIGHT IS MONSIGNOR RICK HILGARTNER FROM SAINT JOSEPH PARISH. GOOD TO SEE YOU. HOW ARE YOU? I’M WELL. HEARING ABOUT POPE FRANCIS, HE SOUNDS LIKE CUT FROM A DIFFERENT CLOTH, SO TO SPEAK, FROM OTHER POPES OF THE PAST. ABSOLUTELY. AND EVEN THE CHOICE OF HIS NAME. A LOT’S BEEN SAID EVEN LATELY, WHEN HE CHOSE THE NAME FRANCIS, IT WAS BECAUSE HE WANTED TO REMEMBER THE POOR. AND IT WAS ANOTHER CARDINAL SITTING NEXT TO HIM WHO SAID, DON’T FORGET THE POOR. AND THAT’S WHEN THE NAME FRANCIS CAME TO HIM. SO HE STEPPED OUT OF TRADITION AND CHOSE A NAME THAT HAD NEVER BEEN CHOSEN BEFORE IN HOMAGE TO SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI. WE KNOW THAT WITHIN TEN OR 15 TO 20 DAYS, THEY’LL HAVE TO START PICKING A SUCCESSOR. MOST OF US KNOW CONCLAVE THROUGH A FICTIONAL SENSE IN TV SHOW. THE MOVIE GOT SOME THINGS RIGHT. IT DIDN’T GET IT ALL RIGHT. TELL ME ABOUT HOW THE PROCESS STARTS. WELL, THE PROCESS HAS REALLY ALREADY STARTED. THE CARDINALS HAVE BEEN IN ROME FOR ALMOST A WEEK NOW. MOST OF THEM WERE HERE FOR THE FUNERAL YESTERDAY, AND THEY STARTED WHAT THEY CALLED THE GENERAL CONGREGATION. SO BETWEEN THE DAY, THE DAY AFTER POPE FRANCIS’S DEATH AND THE FUNERAL YESTERDAY, THE CARDINALS WERE AS THEY WERE COMING TO TOWN, WERE ALL GATHERING IN MEETINGS. AND THOSE MEETINGS WILL CONTINUE DURING THESE DAYS OF MOURNING COMING UP, THE DETAILS THAT HAVE BEGUN AND THEY WILL MEET AND THEY WILL PARTIALLY GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER BECAUSE THEY’RE A QUITE DIVERSE GROUP NOW. IT’S ONE OF THE LARGEST CONTINGENCIES OF VOTERS. 135 THIS YEAR. VOTING IN THE CONCLAVE. BUT THEY’RE FAR MORE DIVERSE, REPRESENTING REALLY ALL PARTS OF THE GLOBE IN PROBABLY THE MOST DIVERSE GATHERING OF THE COLLEGE OF CARDINALS FOR A CONCLAVE. SO MANY OF THEM DON’T KNOW EACH OTHER. SO THE MEETINGS THIS WEEK WILL BE ABOUT THEM GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER AND TO TALK ABOUT THE ISSUES FACING THE CHURCH AND THE WORLD AS THEY BEGIN TO DISCERN WHAT THE CHURCH NEEDS IN THE NEXT POPE. THAT SENSE OF DIVERSITY, WHICH I HEAR IS MOSTLY FROM THE HAND OF FRANCIS, OF WHO HE SELECTED. DOES THAT LEAD TOWARDS THE TYPE OF PERSON THEY WOULD SELECT AS A SUCCESSOR, OR DOES THAT NOT PLAY A ROLE? WELL, I THINK IT IT MIGHT PLAY A ROLE IN WHAT MIGHT BREAK FROM TRADITION EVEN MORE. I THINK RIGHT NOW, NATIONALITY, COUNTRY OF ORIGIN PROBABLY PLAYS LESS A ROLE THAN EVER. YOU KNOW, FOR CENTURIES IT WAS ALWAYS IN ITALIAN. THE ELECTION OF BENEDICT XVI, STILL A EUROPEAN, BUT NOT AN ITALIAN, THOUGH HE WAS A LONGTIME VATICAN EMPLOYEE. VATICAN LEADER AND THEN POPE FRANCIS. THE FIRST LATIN AMERICAN POPE, FIRST NON-EUROPEAN POPE. THIS TIME, MIGHT WE SEE A POPE FROM YET ANOTHER CONTINENT? IT’S IT’S DIFFICULT TO KNOW, BUT I THINK REALLY, NATIONALITY WILL MATTER LESS. OKAY. THE IDEA YOU GET TO TWO THIRDS VOTE AND YOU’RE SELECTED. BUT THAT’S NOT JUST DOESN’T HAPPEN JUST ONCE. THERE ARE ROUNDS OF VOTING THAT OCCUR. YES. AND THE VOTING ALL HAPPENS, OF COURSE, IN SECRET. AND IT’S HIGHLY RITUALIZED. I MEAN, WE THINK OF VOTING LIKE CONGRESS VOTING, AND THEY CLICK THEIR REMOTE CONTROLS AND ALL THE TALLIES GO UP. BUT IT ALL HAPPENS IN A VERY RITUALIZED WAY. EACH OF THEM COMES UP ONE BY ONE, AND THEY RECITE THE FORMULA THAT THIS IS THE PERSON BEFORE GOD, I BELIEVE SHOULD BE POPE, AND THEY PLACE THEIR BALLOTS ONE BY ONE, AND THEY VOTE IN ORDER OF PRECEDENCE. SO THEY LINE UP ONE BY ONE, MAKE THEIR FORMULA WITH EACH BALLOT, AND THEN THE COUNTING OF THE BALLOTS ALL HAPPENS IN FRONT OF EVERYONE. SO THEY’RE READING OFF EACH BALLOT. SO EACH VOTE TAKES PROBABLY AN HOUR TO 90 MINUTES JUST TO GET THROUGH ONE BALLOT. YEAH. AND SO THIS IS NOT A PROCESS THAT IS QUICK. SURE. AND IT’S REALLY ROOTED IN PRAYER. WE THINK OF IT AS THEY’RE GOING TO SIT AROUND AND CAUCUS AND DEBATE. BUT THAT’S WHAT’S HAPPENING IN MEETINGS IN THE COMING DAYS. ONCE THEY ENTER THE SISTINE CHAPEL. IT’S ROOTED IN PRAYER. THEY SIT IN SILENCE AND THEY’RE PRAYING. THEY’RE LOOKING AT MICHELANGELO’S BEAUTIFUL LAST JUDGMENT THAT THAT’S REALLY IMPOSING. IS IT? NOT AT ALL. BUT THAT’S WHAT THEY FACE AS AS THEY’RE AS THEY’RE VOTING AND THEY’RE PRAYING AS THEY’RE DOING THAT. AND, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE A LOT OF PERIODS OF SILENCE AS THEY’RE SITTING ONE BY ONE, AS THEY’RE SITTING THERE AS ONE BY ONE, ALL 135 GO FORWARD AND MAKE THEIR VOTE. AND THEN THE PROCESS OF COUNTING BALLOTS AND TALLYING BALLOTS, THEY HAVE A LOT OF TIME FOR REFLECTION AND PRAYER. CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT THE AGE REQUIREMENT? I WAS LOOKING THROUGH SOME OF THE THE PROSPECTS, AND I THINK THE YOUNGEST IS MAYBE 65 OR SO AND WENT UP THROUGH THE 70S. WHAT IS THAT ABOUT? WHY IS THAT AN IMPORTANT PART? WELL, SOME OF IT HAS TO DO WITH PAPACY. THE PAPACY IS A LIFETIME APPOINTMENT, THOUGH THERE IS UNDER POPE BENEDICT CERTAINLY OPENED UP THE PRECEDENT OF POSSIBLY STEPPING DOWN DUE TO AGE OR ILL HEALTH, BUT IT’S PRESUMED TO BE A LIFETIME APPOINTMENT. POPE JOHN PAUL WAS 58 WHEN HE WAS ELECTED, AND HIS PONTIFICATE LASTED NEARLY 28 YEARS. I SUSPECT THAT THEY AREN’T COMFORTABLE LOOKING AT THAT KIND OF TRAJECTORY. THE LAST TWO POPES, POPE BENEDICT AND POPE FRANCIS, WERE BOTH 78 WHEN THEY WERE ELECTED. SO MIGHT THEY BE LOOKING FOR SOMEONE WITH A LITTLE BIT MORE VIGOR, A LITTLE BIT MORE YOUTH, POTENTIALLY? FOR ME, I WOULD SAY THE SWEET SPOT MIGHT BE SOMEBODY IN THEIR LATE 60S, EARLY 70S. A LOT OF THE PUNDITS THROW OUT ALL KINDS OF NAMES, SOME OF THEM PEOPLE ALREADY IN THEIR LATE 70S, PRESUMABLY THEY WOULD ELECT SOMEBODY WHO’S IN THE ROOM. SO ANY OF THE CARDINALS OVER 80 WHO WILL NOT BE IN THE CONCLAVE WOULD REALLY NOT BE ELIGIBLE. THEY’RE NOT GOING TO ELECT SOMEBODY WHO’S ALREADY 80 YEARS OLD. THAT WOULD BE I WOULD THINK THAT’S CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT. SO,
11 TV Hill: Insight from Baltimore on selecting next pope
Updated: 11:30 AM EDT Apr 27, 2025
A moment steeped in centuries of tradition: The Catholic faithful lined up for hours to pay their final respects to “the people’s pope,” Pope Francis.While the tradition of laying a pope to rest dates back centuries, Pope Francis opted to break with certain customs. He departed the world as he lived in it, simply and with humility.Now, the College of Cardinals prepares for its next task to elect a successor. It’s a tradition shrouded in secrecy known as the Conclave.It has been 12 years since the Catholic Church appointed a pope. The resignation of Pope Benedict XVI led to the last conclave, which was also historic as it marked the first time in almost 600 years that a pope voluntarily stepped down.Monsignor Rick Hilgartner, from St. Joseph Parish, joins 11 TV Hill to share some insight into the election of the next pope.
BALTIMORE —A moment steeped in centuries of tradition: The Catholic faithful lined up for hours to pay their final respects to “the people’s pope,” Pope Francis.
While the tradition of laying a pope to rest dates back centuries, Pope Francis opted to break with certain customs. He departed the world as he lived in it, simply and with humility.
Now, the College of Cardinals prepares for its next task to elect a successor. It’s a tradition shrouded in secrecy known as the Conclave.
It has been 12 years since the Catholic Church appointed a pope. The resignation of Pope Benedict XVI led to the last conclave, which was also historic as it marked the first time in almost 600 years that a pope voluntarily stepped down.
Monsignor Rick Hilgartner, from St. Joseph Parish, joins 11 TV Hill to share some insight into the election of the next pope.
