Ubi periculum
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Ubi periculum is a
Background
The goal of Ubi periculum was to limit dilatory tactics and distractions within papal elections, and outside intrusions which might impinge upon the freedom of the electors; it was certainly intended to produce faster outcomes, and, by making the rules more explicit and detailed, to reduce the chances of schism and disputed elections. The imposition of monastic-style modes of living inside the conclave may also have been intended to lift the minds of the electors out of the everyday business of governing the church, and focus their attention on the spiritual importance of their activity.[5]
At five of the nine papal elections that were held between 1198 and 1271, inclusive, the participating cardinals had worked in isolation under physical constraints that they chose or had forced on them.[a] In 1198 they sequestered themselves with the rationale that they needed "to be free and safe in their deliberations".[6] In 1241, Rome was under siege and civic officials isolated the cardinals to force the prompt election of a pope who could negotiate with the city's attackers.[7] For the three elections where the cardinals were sequestered in Rome, they used the same location, the Septizodium, as if the practice were becoming traditional.[8] At the most recent, lengthy election in Viterbo, the local authorities had not held the cardinals incommunicado, but had restricted their movements and controlled their access to food.[9] In other respects the procedures established by Ubi periculum appear to have derived from the election procedures of the Dominican constitution of 1228 as well as the communes of Venice (1229) and Piacenza (1233).[10]
Provisions
Gregory first required that procedures already established be maintained, citing specifically those of Alexander III, which meant that election requires the votes of two-thirds of the cardinals present.[11][12] In Ubi periculum Gregory specified further that:[1][13][14]
- upon the death of a pope, all magistracies and offices cease their functions, except for the Major Penitentiary and the Minor Penitentiaries, and the Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church
- the meeting for the election of a pope should be held where the pope and his curia were residing when the pope died, or in the nearest city in the diocese, but not until ten days have elapsed
- men of every order and condition are eligible candidates
- cardinals may not cast votes in absentia
- late arrivals shall be admitted and no cardinal shall be denied entry, not even if he be excommunicated
- none may leave until the election is concluded, except on account of illness
- the cardinals should be enclosed incommunicado in the palace where the pope died, carefully guarded, each accompanied by one or, if they are ill, two servants
- the cardinals should live in common, their shared accommodations should have no interior walls
- the cardinals are forbidden to engage in politics or bribery or deal-making, and must restrict themselves to the election at hand
- if a pope is not been elected after three days, the cardinals are permitted only one dish at their meals; after eight days only bread, wine and water
- enforcement of these rules–and no additional restrictions of their own devising–is delegated to the rulers and officials of the city where the election is held
Impact
The first election following Ubi periculum observed its rules and took only one day, 20–21 January 1276, to elect
In 1311 Pope Clement V reaffirmed the rules of Ubi periculum in Ne Romani. He reiterated that the power of the College remained strictly limited during an interregnum and authorized local diocesan authorities in whose jurisdiction a conclave met to force the cardinals to adhere to conclave procedures.[6]
Notes
- ^ The five elections were those of 1198, 1216 (in Perugia), 1227, 1241, and 1261 (Viterbo).[6]
- ^ The suspension of Ubi periculum contributed to the length of these elections, allowing greater interference by the Kings of Sicily, Charles I and Charles II, as did the close contest between two factions in the College and the small number of cardinals involved.[17]
- ^ Celestine restored the rules of Ubi periculum in three papal bulls: Quia in futurorum on 28 September 1294, Pridem tum nobiscum on 27 October 1294 and Constitutionem felicis recordationis on 10 December 1294.[1][18]
References
- ^ JSTOR 23565567.
- JSTOR 43050246.
- ^
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Conclave". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. "The new pope endeavoured to obviate for the future such scandalous delay by the law of the conclave, which, almost in spite of the cardinals, he promulgated at the fifth session of the Second Council of Lyons in 1764."
- ISBN 978-9004162778. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
- ^ Cartwright, William (1868). On Papal Conclaves. Edinburgh. pp. 9–29. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ ISBN 978-9004165601.
- ]
- ^ Adams, John Paul (5 January 2016). "Sede Vacante 1241". Portraits of the Popes. Retrieved 7 August 2018.[self-published source]
- ISBN 9780786744183. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
- ^ S2CID 145296691.
- ISBN 9780230522749. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- ISBN 9781107015746.
- ^ "Second Council of Lyons (1274): On election and the power of the elected person". EWTN. Retrieved 30 July 2018, English translation.
- ISBN 9780198797449. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
- ^ ISBN 9780790567921. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
- ^ One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Pope John XXI (XX)". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- ^ Fritz Walter, Die Politik der Kurie unter Gregor X (Berlin 1894), 8-32. Joseph Maubach, Die Kardinale und ihre Politik um die Mitte des XIII. Jahrhunderts (Bonn 1902). F. Gregorovius, History of Rome in the Middle Ages, Volume V.2 second edition, revised (London: George Bell, 1906) 455-477. H. D. Sedgwick, Italy in the Thirteenth Century Volume II (Boston-New York 1912) 71-80.
- JSTOR 23564635.
- JSTOR 43050235.
External links
- "Ubi periculum, Gregorio X, 7 Luglio 1274" (PDF) (in Latin). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
- "Second Council of Lyons (1274): On election and the power of the elected person". EWTN. Retrieved 30 July 2018, English translation.
