No one knows how long the conclave will last.
There is no formal time limit: until two thirds of the 133 Roman Catholics of voting agree with a new Pope, they must continue voting. Adjusted papal selections have lasted only a few hours to almost three years.
In the thirteenth century, the tradition of kidnapping the duration of the cardinals, the conclave began after Viterbo residents, near Rome, where it was carried out, was frustrated with a selection process that was dragged in almost three years.
The locals locked the cardinals of dispute in the papal palace in Viterbo and removed the roof, submitting them to the elements. They also cut their food rations until they made a selection. Pope Gregory X finally emerged as his choice after 33 months.
It is not surprising that Gregory X would rush with fixed rules for the conclave, which come from the Latin “with key”. They included the reduction of Meals to one a day if a Pope was not chosen after three days, and only for bread and water after five more days.
But some papal elections continued advancing. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the European Catholic monarchies used their influence on loyal cardinals to shape the result, which means that votes sometimes extended for months.
The agrees have become shorter in the last two centuries, after the end of the temporary power of the Pope in 1870.
The last two popes, Francis and Benedict XVI, were chosen in two days.
The cardinals tried different estimates of how much this conclave would last. Some said that the process can take longer than recent selections because the members of the Great and several Cardinals College, many of them designated by Pope Francis in recent years, are not well known.
Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan or New York said he thought the conclave would be longer than he chose Francis. He has packed 12 peanut butter packages, and enough to eat three a day.
“I think it will be longer than the last time,” he said.
Others predict that cardinals will converge with a well -known name and fast wrap it.
“Everyone says that, but I don’t know how they know,” said Cardinal Anders Arborelius from Sweden in a recent interview. Maybe, he said, “everyone moves to get home as soon as possible.”
Josh Holder and Elizabeth days Contributed reports.
