Al's Morning Meeting

Catholic Glossary

You are going to need a glossary that you can lean on in order to understand all of the terms that the Catholic Church uses in the days ahead. Here you go.

Here is another nicely done glossary by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

Here is a glossary just for the Celebration of Mass.

Pope Coverage Resources

My Poynter colleague Kelly McBride suggests these local stories:

• Stake out Catholic schools, youth groups or Sunday school classes. Catholic schools, no doubt, will be filled with conversations today about the weekend's events. This is the first death of a pope for an entire generation who are about to learn about the tradition of apostolic succession. Sit in on one of those discussions and just observe. 
• Allow reader submissions. Give people 250 words or less to describe how and when they saw this pope or even met this pope. You could fill pages of cyberspace with these personal accounts. Or you could run a few every day until the new pope is selected.
• Many people know more about papal succession from the best-selling novel "Angels and Demons," the prequel to "The Da Vinci Code." How much will Dan Brown's Catholic thrillers impact the understanding of these real-life events?
• There are many Catholics who see this pope's death as a chance for new possibilities. What are people hoping for in the next pope?

ReligionLink.org has built a remarkable page for journalists, which includes:

• Papal Transition: A Backgrounder
• A Brief Transition Backgrounder
• The College of Cardinals: A Backgrounder
• Members of the College of Cardinals
• The Cardinal Electors
• Biographies of the U.S. Cardinals
• Interview sources from the Bishop's Conference
• At least 30 cardinals seen as candidates
• Vatican's Next Weeks Bear Centuries' Weight
• For next pontiff, daunting challenges await
• Prospective pontiffs span globe

View Pope-related front pages and screengrabs from around the country and around the world. This guide uses several Flash MX 2004 components. If you do not have a current Flash plugin, you can download it here. Just click "Get Flash Player."

Special Sections and Online Packages:

• Boston Globe
• Chicago Tribune
• Chicago Sun-Times
• Cleveland Plain Dealer
• Dallas Morning News
• Detroit Free Press
• Los Angeles Times
• Miami Herald
• New York Times
• Philadelphia Inquirer
• San Diego Union-Tribune
• San Jose Mercury News
• Seattle Times
• Washington Post

How Papal Succession Works

• HowStuffWorks.com talks you through the succession procedure.
• Religion and Ethics Newsweekly did an excellent job explaining how succession and selection works. R&E Newsweekly explained: "Under current rules, after the death, or resignation of a pope, Cardinals under the age of 80 have between 15 and 20 days to gather in Rome for the conclave. Until a new pope is elected, the College of Cardinals governs the church, but with limited powers. When the Cardinals meet to elect a pope, first of all, they're locked up so that they cannot be influenced by anything from the outside, and also so they can maintain secrecy. There will be no cell phones, no radios, no newspapers, no telephones, no communication with the outside world. During the next conclave, most of the Cardinals will stay in Saint Martha's House, a new $20-million-dollar hotel-like complex."

The Qualities of a New Pope

There is a lot of speculation, of course, about front-runners for the papacy. That aside, what are some of the qualities that the Cardinals will be looking for? Rachel Zoll at AP reported:

• Speaks English and Italian: They will look for a man with a strong command of English and Italian, to communicate with the world's Catholics and with church officials in charge of the day-to-day operations of the Vatican.
• Older not Younger: Age may also be a factor. John Paul's papacy of 26 years has been one of the longest in church history, and the cardinals may back an older candidate as a "transitional pope" - someone whose tenure may not be quite so long. "Most cardinals don't think a really long papacy will be a good idea," said James Hitchcock, a historian and church expert at Saint Louis University. "But with modern medicine, if they elect a man who is 70, he could live until he was 95."
• Geography also will influence the vote. John Paul was the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. Vatican observers disagree over whether there will be pressure in the conclave to return the papacy to an Italian, or whether they will want to send a signal to the burgeoning ranks of Catholics in the Third World by choosing an African or Latin American candidate. "This is one of the real dividing lines they're going to have to consider," said David Gibson, a former Vatican Radio newsman and author of "The Coming Catholic Church." "If they just go back to an elderly Italian, it will be a kind of let down from the intensity of this papacy. Or they may say, 'Look, let's keep this interest going, we went behind the Iron Curtain last time, let's go to Latin America this time.' "
• Not an American: Although there are many unknowns going into a conclave, church experts agree on at least one thing: There is almost no chance the next pope will be an American. The cardinals will not want to give the impression that the church is in the hands of the world's lone superpower.
• Not a Liberal: Catholics clinging to a shred of hope that the church will make celibacy optional for priests or allow women to be ordained will probably be disappointed. "You're not going to see a liberal in that sense. There really aren't liberals like that," Gibson said. "I think there's some room for discussion on celibacy. And that is simply what it would be: discussion."

What if Cardinals Can’t Agree on a Successor?

It has happened before. In 1271, it took more than two and a half years to select a new Pope. That frustrating exercise is the origin of the "conclave," which even included the cutting back of food to the Cardinals if they could not agree after five days of talking. In fact, the rules put into place after that selection in 1271 included secluding the Cardinals from all outside communication. Food would be shoved through a window. After five days of talking they were cut to two meals a day. After seven days, it was bread, water and wine -- that's it. If a Cardinal had to leave the room he was locked out unless it was for an illness. Not long after the rules were changed, the next selections started going a lot faster. The next selections were made in days, not years.

The Catholic Encyclopedia explained the background:

The Tenth Ecumenical Synod (Lateran) in 1139 restricted, however, the entire choice to the cardinals, and in 1179, another Lateran Council under Alexander III made the rule that the pope is to be chosen by a two-thirds majority of the electors who are present. This last decree did not state what was to be done in case such a majority could not be obtained. When the cardinals found themselves face to face with this contingency on the death of Clement IV in 1268, they commissioned six cardinals as plenipotentiaries to decide on a candidate. The vacancy of the Holy See had lasted for two years and nine months. To prevent a recurrence of this evil, the Second Council of Lyons under Gregory X (1274) decreed that ten days after the pope's decease, the cardinals should assemble in the palace in the city in which the pope died, and there hold their electoral meetings, entirely shut out from all outside influences. If they did not come to an agreement on a candidate in three days, their victuals were to be lessened, and after a further delay of five days, the food supply was to be still further restricted. This is the origin of conclaves.

Why do New Popes Choose Their Name?

As the newly-selected pope accepts his new role, it is tradition for him to select a new name. This papal tradition dates to 533 and the election of Pope John II, whose birth name was Mercurius, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia.

Mercurius is derived from "Mercury," a pagan Roman god. Believing that a successor of St. Peter should not carry a name belonging to a pagan religion, Mercurius chose to change his name upon his election to honor a previous pope.

While some that followed John II chose to retain their original name, it soon became commonplace for new popes to choose a new moniker. The name change also symbolizes the new life that the new pope is entering as the head of the Catholic Church. Typically, the new pope selects the name of his favorite Saint or a former pope whom he admires.

John Paul II chose his name to honor his predecessor, John Paul I, who died just 33 days after being elected pope. John Paul I chose his name to honor predecessors Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul VI.