VATICAN CITY— Before cardinals start voting for a new pope, they will swear an oath of secrecy in the Sistine Chapel. It will be administered by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the conclave’s presiding cardinal. After he reads it, each cardinal elector will touch the Holy Gospels and “promise, pledge and swear” to uphold the oath.
Here’s the full text of the oath:
“We, the Cardinal electors present in this election of the Supreme Pontiff promise, pledge and swear, as individuals and as a group, to observe faithfully and scrupulously the prescriptions contained in the Apostolic Constitution of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II, Universi Dominici Gregis, published on 22 February 1996.
We likewise promise, pledge and swear that whichever of us by divine disposition is elected Roman Pontiff will commit himself faithfully to carrying out the munus Petrinum of Pastor of the Universal Church and will not fail to affirm and defend strenuously the spiritual and temporal rights and the liberty of the Holy See.
Read More at OfficialWire . By The Associated Press.
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Since most Catholics are Democrats who spit in the face of the Church, maybe they could at least learn something about an honest election process.
The thing that impresses me most is the resignation of the entire Vatican bureaucracy, turning Church operations over to a temporary management process. No changes are allowed – only status quo until the new Pontiff is selected and he has the opportunity to review overall operations and make changes as needed. Most are re-hired, but at least are reminded they have some obligation to perform as good stewards of their jobs.
With all the talk about term limits in our legislatures, we seem to forget the entrenched bureaucrats remain – they have the reins of power and cannot be fired. They continue to “be sent to eat out the people’s substance.” (Declaration of Independence)