Tuesday, November 05, 2013

Bergoglio elected Pope on the 6th ballot of the Conclave

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQYIrv-8mNEudCQ1_Z_M0MsFJZ-DSo1CAtuUL31uSH62xvu9QwqBergoglio was not elected on the fifth ballot, but on the sixth.

During the voting session which took place on the afternoon of 13 March 2013, an error led to the fourth vote of the day, the fifth of the Conclave - which began with a first scrutiny on the evening of 12 March – being cancelled. 

Argentinean journalist, Elisabetta Piqué, who writes for Argentinean paper La Nación,  reveals this in a a new book published in Spanish, entitled Francisco, vida y revolución (Francis: Life and revolution).

What happened? 

After the fifth ballot was cast and the ballot box containing the votes of the 115 cardinal electors opened, the ballots were counted as always before being scrutinised and the resulting number was 116. 

There was one extra ballot. 

One of the cardinals had mistakenly placed two ballots in the box without realising it: one contained the name of his preferred candidate and the other was blank.

The mistake meant the whole voting session had to be cancelled, without the ballots even being scrutinised. 

If they had, Bergoglio would probably have probably come out on top. 

It was decided that another vote should be cast immediately. 

The mishap would not have influenced the cardinals in any way as none of them knew what name (in this case none) was on the extra ballot. 

On the sixth ballot and after the fifth scrutiny, the Archbishop of Buenos Aires won a clear majority: way above the expected quorum of 77 votes. 

Then the white smoke billowed out of the Sistine Chapel chimney and Pope Francis greeted the crowds for the first time.