Sede vacante
Sede vacante is the vacancy of the
episcopal see of a
particular church in the
Canon law of the
Roman Catholic Church. It is
Latin for "the seat being vacant" (the
ablative absolute to
sedes vacans "vacant seat"), referring to the
cathedra of the particular church. This means that for a
diocese the diocesan
bishop has either died, resigned, transferred to a different diocese, or lost his office. If there is a
coadjutor bishop for the church, then this period does not take place as a coadjutor bishop immediately succeeds to the episcopal see.
During this period, all
vicars general and episcopal vicars lose their office unless they are themselves bishops. The governance of the particular church is then entrusted to the
cathedral chapter, who then elects a
vicar capitular. In particular churches without a cathedral chapter, the college of the chief advisors of the diocesan bishop (known as
consultors) elect an
administrator sede vacante. Both officers serve the same function: they possess
ordinary power over the particular church until a newly appointed/elected diocesan bishop takes possession of the diocese. Until the election of the vicar capitular takes place, the senior
auxiliary bishop, if there is one, acts as administrator.
The choice of the college or chapter is limited to bishops and priests older than 35 years. If the chapter or college fails to elect an administrator within eight days, the
metropolitan archbishop (for a suffragan see) or senior
suffragan bishop (for a metropolitan see) may appoint the administrator for the particular church. The
Pope has been known to, on occasion, preempt the election or appointment of the vicar capitular. The officer he appoints is then known as an
Apostolic Administrator sede vacante and has the same powers as the vicar capitular.
More particularly,
sede vacante refers to the vacancy of the
Holy See, which occurs after the
death or
resignation of a
pope. In this case the particular church is the diocese of
Rome and the "vacant seat" is the
cathedra of
Saint John Lateran. During this period, the Holy See is administered by a
regency of the
College of Cardinals.
According to
Universi Dominici Gregis, the government of the
Holy See sede vacante (and therefore of the Catholic Church) falls to the
College of Cardinals, but in a very limited capacity. At the same time, all of the heads of the
Roman Curia resign their offices. The exceptions are the
Cardinal Camerlengo, who is charged with managing the property of the Holy See, and the
Major Penitentiary, who continues to exercise his normal role. If either has to do something which normally requires the assent of the Pope, he has to submit it to the College of Cardinals.
Papal legates continue to exercise their diplomatic roles overseas, and the
Vicar General for
Rome continues to exercise his pastoral role over the diocese of Rome during this period. The postal administration of the
State of Vatican City prepares and issues special postage stamps for use during this particular period, known as
"sede vacante stamps", only valid for the duration of the vacancy.
The
coat of arms of the Holy See also changes during this period. Instead of the
papal tiara over the keys, the tiara is replaced with the
umbracullum or
ombrellino in
Italian. This symbolizes both the lack of a Pope and also the governance of the Camerlengo over the temporalities of the Holy See. As further indication, the Camerlengo ornaments his
arms with this symbol during this period, which he subsequently removes once a pope is elected. The arms of the camerlengo appear on commemorative and
Euro coins minted during this period, the latter are legal tender in all
Eurozone member states.
The interregnum is usually highlighted by the
funeral mass of the deceased pope, the general congregations of the college of cardinals for determining the particulars of the election, and finally culminated in the
conclave to elect a successor. Once a new
pope has been elected (and
ordained bishop if necessary) the
sedes is no longer vacant, so this period then officially ends. Afterwards occurs the
Papal Installation or
Papal Coronation, depending on the form of
inauguration and
investiture a new pope chooses, and the formal possession of the
cathedra of the
Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano.
Cardinals present in
Rome are required to wait at least fifteen days after the start of the vacancy for the rest of the college before they can hold the conclave to elect the new Pope. However, after twenty days have elapsed, they must hold the conclave even if cardinals are missing. Historically,
sede vacante periods have often been quite lengthy, lasting many months due to lengthy deadlocked conclaves. For many years through
1922 the period from the death of the Pope to the start of the conclave was shorter, but after
William Henry Cardinal O'Connell had arrived just too late for two conclaves in a row,
Pope Pius XI extended the time limit. With the very next conclave in
1939, cardinals began to travel by air.
The most recent period of
sede vacante of the Holy See began at 19:37
UTC,
April 2,
2005, due to the death of
Pope John Paul II, and concluded with the
election of
Pope Benedict XVI at 16:05 UTC,
April 19, 2005.
*between
Pius VI and
Pius VII -
August 29,
1799 to
March 14,
1800, 197 days
*between
Pius VII and
Leo XII -
August 20 to
September 28,
1823, 39 days
*between
Leo XII and
Pius VIII -
February 10 to
March 31,
1829, 49 days
*between
Pius VIII and
Gregory XVI -
December 1,
1830 to
February 2,
1831, 63 days
*between
Gregory XVI and
Pius IX -
June 1 to
June 16,
1846, 15 days
*between
Pius IX and
Leo XIII -
February 7 to
February 20,
1878, 13 days
*between
Leo XIII and
Pius X -
July 20 to
August 4,
1903, 15 days
*between
Pius X and
Benedict XV -
August 20 to
September 3,
1914, 14 days
*between
Benedict XV and
Pius XI -
January 22 to
February 6,
1922, 15 days
*between
Pius XI and
Pius XII -
February 10 to
March 2,
1939, 20 days
*between
Pius XII and
John XXIII -
October 9 to
October 28,
1958, 19 days
*between
John XXIII and
Paul VI -
June 3 to
June 21,
1963, 18 days
*between
Paul VI and
John Paul I -
August 6 to
August 26,
1978, 20 days
*between
John Paul I and
John Paul II -
September 28 to
October 16,
1978, 19 days
*between
John Paul II and
Benedict XVI -
April 2 to
April 19,
2005, 17 days
*
Sedevacantism, the belief among some
Traditional Catholics that the sitting Popes in recent decades have not been true Popes due to
heresy.
