HABEMUS PAPAM
We have a Pope
with engravings by Bernard Picart, 1725
When a candidate has been elected, the Cardinal Dean*,
in the name of the Cardinal-electors, asks: "Do you accept your canonical
election as Supreme Pontiff?" When he accepts (accipeo), the Dean asks:
: "By what name do you wish to be called?" After he chooses a name,
the Cardinals approach the newly-elected Pope, to make an act of homage and
obedience.
An act of thanksgiving to God is then made, after which, from the balcony
of the Vatican Basiliica, the Cardinal
Proto-Deacon speaks to the waiting people, saying: "I announce
to you a great joy: WE HAVE A POPE; the Most Eminent and Most Reverend Lord
(First name) Cardinal of the Holy Roman
Church (Last name), who has taken the
name of (Papal name)*.
The new Pope makes a brief speech and imparts his first Apostolic Blessing
Urbi et Orbi, to the city of Rome and to the world.
In 1978, Pope John Paul I instituted the solemn
ceremony of the inauguration of the Pontificate, to replace the papal
coronation. This ceremony takes place in the sagrata, St. Peter's
Square, the site of St. peter's martyrdom. On April 24, 2005 a new solemn
ceremony was used for the first time. The Cardinal Dean places an ancient
form of the pallium on the Pope's shoulders and the Secretary of State places
the Fisherman's Ring on his finger. Instead of all the cardinals, a symbolic
group of 12 persons, representing the Twelve Apostles, kneels down to pay
homage: three cardinals, a bishop, a priest, a deacon, a man and a woman religious,
a married couple and two newly confirmed youths. The next day, the Pope visits
the tomb of St. Paul the Apostle "to express the inseparable bond of
the Roman Church with the Apostle Paul. Peter and Paul are the two founders
of the Church of Rome."
about the ceremony
Sometime
after the solemn ceremony of the inauguration of the Pontificate, as Bishop
of Rome, the Pope takes possession of or is enthroned in his cathedral church
(incatedratio), the Patriarchal Lateran Archbasilica of the Holy Saviour &
Saint John. During this solemn ritual, he sits on his episcopal throne, for
the first time. Pope Benedict performed his 'incatedratio' on May 7, in a
Eucharistic celebration of the Holy Spirit, who infuses wisdom. Following
the enthronement, the Holy Father went to St. Mary Major Basilica to greet
the Blessed Virgin with the prayer "Ave Maria Stella." Mary's image
as the salvation of the Roman people (Salus Populi Romani) is housed there.
Pope
Benedict XVI received an ancient form of the pallium at his 