The Morning After
As I am typing these words, 21 hours have elapsed since voting closed in the German election, and nobody is still any wiser. The following are the preliminary official results:
Party: Percent of Vote (Seats)
SPD: 34.3% (222)
CDU/CSU: 35.2% (225)
Buendnis '90/Die Gruenen: 8.1% (51)
FDP: 9.8% (61)
Linke.PDS: 8.7% (54)
Other: 3.9%
Still, nobody knows what the next Government is going to look like. Both Merkel and Schroeder claim to have the biggest party in the Bundestag and therefore claim the "Regierungsauftrag" or the order of the President to build a government for themselves. Right in this case is Angela Merkel, as the SPD's claim assumes that the CDU and CSU should be looked at as seperate parties, which in the case of the Bundestag has historically not been done.
If we look at the number of seats, there is only a 3-seat difference between SPD and CDU, due to the incredibly complex over-hang mandates. Should the SPD do well in Dresden I, which has yet to vote, they could gain as many as 3 mandates due to mathematical cascade effects. This does not require any crazy results, just a decisive win for the SPD. If this includes the direct manadate, the CDU would also lose a seat, thus making the SPD the largest party. This all, however, is unlikely, as the CDU won the surrounding districts this past Sunday, so the best the SPD can hope for is a tie. If that happens, we'd be in a position like never before, with no party having a clear claim on the chancellorship.
Reflections on the German Election
As I am typing these words, it has now been nearly 6 hours since voting finished. However, the preliminary offical result has not been announced, and only very little is known for certain. Let us recap that:
--There will be no more Red-Green Government
--Black-Yellow, against all their statements to the contrary, failed to bring about the change they hoped for.
In light of these facts, German politicians used two opportunities to make fools of themselves. First the "Berliner Runde," in which Merkel, Westerwelle, Stoiber, Schroeder, Fischer and Bisky rewarmed their stump speeches, and then "Sabine Christiansen" in which lower party officials did much the same. The one thing that worries me is that the Chancellor made a horrible impression in the Berliner Runde, yes, he seemed almost drugged/drunk, and insulted both his fellow politicians, as well as the moderators. He seems over-confident, indeed arrogant as Mr. Stoiber said in light of election results which would lead to a tie at best.
Most interestingly is the case FDP. They won everything, but lost the Government, as their vehemont promises that they will not enter any coalition other than Black-Yellow appear to hold true even after the hammer came down. Personally, I cannot at all comprehend what led to their gaining so many votes. One thing is for certain, Mr. Gerhart's assertations that it was because of their "clear election manifesto" was wrong. Statistics show, indeed, that it came to massive vote splitting, with 65% of FDP voters voting for the FDP with their second vote, and for the Union with their first. Just what Westerwelle had advocated. My explanation as to why would be that most new FDP voters did indeed want Black-Yellow, but were put off by the Union's unclearness, and by their fear of a Grand Coalition.
The big loser of the day was Angela Merkel, who, throughout the course of the campaign, lost around 15% for her party. As a commentator for the Tagesthemen put it, even if she indeed moved into the Federal Chancery, her first day in office would also be the beginning of the end for her. In her party she always had to fight for power, for example, by pushing Friedrich Merz from the top of the party. Her position is now significantly weakened, and even though the Premiers of the CDU states all still pledge allegiance to her, the CDU masses are starting to distance themselves from her, to blame her for the third worst result for the Union ever.
Also interesting is Muentefering's attempt to start to split the CDU and CSU by stating that the SPD was indeed the strongest party in the Bundestag, comparing his party to the CDU alone, and not to the Union. While this makes some sort of sense, it's never really been seriously done before, and must be a deliberate move at such a delicate hour. Personally, I am still hoping for a SPD-Green-CSU coalition, since the CSU are indeed the christian SOCIALIST union, but I am, of course, dreaming.
Several key questions remain: Who will end up being the strongest party? Will Dresden I decide the election in two weeks? Which coalition will rule the country, and who will head it.
Intersting in all this is the President, Koehler, who gives the responsibility to form a government to some politician, traditionally the chairman of the strongest party. That is looking to be Angie Merkel, but who would he give it to in case of a true Red-Black tie, which is a serious possibility? Though he has his origins in the CDU, Koehler has shown himself to be extremely independent, and his influence in the coming days and weeks will be interesting to observe.
More later, once the preliminary official result is known.
German Election Results
Here are your German election results as of 18.10 MEST:
SPD 33.8%
CDU/CSU 35.7%
Buendnis '90/Die Gruenen 8.4%
FDP 10.4%
Linke.PDS 7.7%
Other: 4%
Winner: FDP
Loser: CDU/CSU
Coalitions:
NO BLACK-YELLOW MAJORITY
NO RED-GREEN MAJORITY
Possible Ruling Coalitions:
Red-Red-Green (Won't happen because of Linke refusal)
Traffic Light (Red-Yellow-Green) Won't happen because of FDP refusal)
Grand Coalition (Red-Black) Possible, but Merkel is said to be against this
Black Traffic Light (Black-Yellow-Green) Little discussed, no vehemont Green Denials
More later!
We're back!
Hello All!
I am glad to announce the rebirth of the Shadow Government. We may not have posted in a few months, but we are here to stay!
To begin with, a quick overview of German Elections, which are this weekend:
Let's get started with a rundown of the parties just for the fun of it:
To begin with we have the Union, which is kind of a permanent coalition between the CDU (christian democratic union) and the CSU (Christian Socialist Union). They always only have one candidate between them, this time it's Angie Merkel. They always sleep together because the CSU exists only in Bavaria, but is insanely strong here (they are expected to get either all or all but one of the directly-voted seats here). Merkel has a doctorate in physics, by the way, and is married to a professor of chemistry.
<>Then we have the SPD (social dems), which is the traditional left party in Germany.
They're Schroeder's bunch and still refer to their party members as "comrade" (or Genosse en allemand).
Schroeder, by the way, is on wife number 3 and was born to a widowed mother who received alms --a true red boy.
Then there are the FDP, or the Free Democrats. They're bastards. They call themselves the "liberals" but are actually right-of-center. Over the course of the Federal Republic, they've gotten into bed with both major parties, but for the past 21 years have been firmly allied with the Union. They don't have a chancellor candidate, but what is called a "top candidate." His name is Gudio Westerwelle and he is gay, which is a big deal here.
Then there is the "Buendnis 90/Die Gruenen", or just the Greens. This party has only been in existence for maybe 30 years. Their top candidate is Joschka Fischer, who is the current foreign minister. He is a sexmachine. Their color is, naturally, green.
New on the Scene this year is the Leftist Party, or simply "Die Linken." This is a curious bunch made up half of the PDS, which is the renamed SED, which was the ruling party of East Germany. They're quite literally communists. The other half of the Leftist party is the WASG, which is the "voter's union for work solidarity and right." This was founded by an ex Chairman of the SPD, who is now just angry at everyone. This party has vowed not to enter any coalitions. They sell themselves as the "true left" because they argue that all the other parties have moved right-of-center and are essentially making the same politics just under a different name. They also promise the voters everything they want to hear, since they know they'll never be in power. They have two candidates Oscar Lafontaine from the WASG and Dr. Gregor Gysi from the PDS. Their color is red.
So, that's half the story. The other half is how the parties could possibly mate up in coalition. Officially, parties have made it known that they will only come together in two constellations: Red-Green (SPD and Gruene) and Black-Yellow. Currently Black yellow is polling at slightly less than 50 percent, and the three other parties at just more. Just a shame that the Leftists positively refuse to rule with the SPD, and the SPD refuses to join them, that leaves a few unofficial alternatives:
The Grand coalition: SPD and Union. Rumor has it, Merkel wants to avoid this at all costs. It’s happened once before in German history, but is of course very instable and a big self esteem killer for the two big parties. It’s also awkward because the parties oppose each other on so much.
The Traffic Light coalition: Red-Yellow-Green. Unlikely because Westerwelle positively stated that unless Black-Yellow has a majority, he will lead his party to the opposition benches for another 4 years.
Red-Red-Green: Though it’s been denied by all parties involved, it makes practical sense if they would have a majority. Unfortunately the Leftists are really, really disliked and have said they would not ally with anyone under any circumstances.
<>There is also a provision in the German constitutions saying that if the newly elected parliament can’t elect a chancellor with a majority after 2 tries, a plurality would suffice for the third try.
It’s never been tested, but rumor has it Merkel may make use of it if she doesn’t have a majority and just hope and pray the leftists don’t vote for Schroeder in round 3.
She would then turn around and ask the question of confidence, thus dissolving parliament and having new elections again.
If she does it, I swear I will bite her someplace painful.
Here are the current poll results according to the ARD (First German Television):
SPD: 34%<>
Union: 41
Greens: 7
FDP: 6.5
Leftists: 8.5
<>It should be noted that the SPD has been catching up a lot in the past week or so.
Also, the Leftists are seriously losing ground and about every 5
th voter in Germany is as of yet undecided.
Voting ensues from 10-6 on Sunday with the preliminary results being declared at 8.
<>Why do I say preliminary and not official results?
Weeeellll, as if this whole election wasn’t strange enough, one the candidates of the NPD (far-right, nationalist party) decided to die in Dresden.
German law says that if a direct-mandate candidate dies before the election, the vote has to be delayed long enough to print new ballots etc.
that means that this district won’t vote until the first few days of October.
Since this is a tightly contested district and since this is such a close election, Dresden district 1 could decide the election –two or three weeks afterwards.
Ok. That was the easy stuff, now it’s time to get technical:
The Bundestag is the lower house of parliament and elects the Chancellor, but you knew that. It is composed half out of direct-mandates, or candidates that run in a district and get the most votes –first past the pole. On my ballot, I have a column for the direct-mandates and a column with a bunch of parties in it. That’s the so-called second vote. Here, you don’t vote for a person, but a party. These votes are tallied state wide, and that state’s second votes are tallied and mandates are handed out to the parties in proportion. Then the parties are required to always take the top people from their party lists, which are compiled in advance. So, in Bavaria, all but 1 one the districts last election sent a CSU direct candidate from Berlin, but in the second vote a lot of Greens and Reds made it.
Now we get to something I don’t even fully understand. The above mentioned system works out well if parties receive roughly the same number of seats in both votes. If a party receives more direct mandates than it should according to the second-vote proportions, it comes to something called over-hang mandates. This just means that the party gets to keep those seats and the Bundestag is actually enlarged by that many mandates. This is usually a small number, usually less than 4 in total, but again, because it’s so tight this time, the overhang mandates might decide the election.
Lastly, I am going to give you a quick overview of the party platforms:
Union:
- Raise the VAT
- Lower the Income tax
- Strike tax exemptions on a big scale
- Prevent Turkey from entering the EU
- No more foreign assignments for the Bundeswehr
- Re-strengthen the German-American Relationship
SPD:
- Create a People’s Insurance for everyone
- Continue their current politics
- No VAT raise
- Allow Turkey into the EU
- Create an independent Foreign policy
Greens:
- No GM foods
- Shut down Nuclear reactors
- Tolerance and non discrimination towards immigrants and other minorities
- Have day-care available free of charge to all mothers starting in the first year of their child
FDP:
- A lower, but fair tax system
- Agree on most everything with the Union
- No VAT raise
Leftists:
Raise taxes for the most wealthy
- Octuple the amount of money payed out for those without work
- Raises taxes throughout
- Disallow companies from exporting jobs
- Essentially, redistribute both wealth and power from those who have it to those who don’t
Habemus Papam --Now What
Dear Readers:
That, which we have anticipated has happened. 115 Cardinals in Rome, in the shortest Concalve in the past 100 years or so selected the ultra-super-conservative Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger as the head of 1 billion Catholics. He chose the name Benedictus XVI (or Benedict XVI in English). The Sede Vacante has now ended. Those are the facts.
Beyond that, everyone can but speculate. We can look at Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger's track record, but many Catholics are quick to point out that the Cardinal and the Pope are not the same man. They claim that in his previous role as Prelate for the Congregation for the Preservation of the Faith, he had to be "the enforcer", and will not be as hardcore in his new position. But that is all speculation.
So, why in the name of God (pun intended) did the 115 Cardinals choose a 78-year-old German instead of the field of other candidates? Why not choose Arinze, to reach out to the battered African congregations? Why not the Archbishop of Milan, a solid candidate? The world will never know, the vow of silence the Cardinals swore is absolute.
Here is my take on it: This was a mistake of monumental proportions. The ultra-right Benedict is unlikely to attract more people to a church who's enrollment is already falling. His anti-birth control stances are likely to endanger the lives of countless shortsighted Africans and South Americans who read the Church's line as meaning "well, just don't use birth control" rather than "don't have sex at all." His anti-ordination-of-women stance is likely to alienate the liberals in the church. But as the Pope in his previous life as Cardinal said: The church must shrink before it can grow.
What bothers me is that this old man, whoom the Cardinals undoubtedly chose as a transitional pope could cause signifcant damage to the world (though I may find it cute, I really don't care about the Catholic Church that much). Considere the above-mentioned birth control issue, never mind women's rights or the closing of the east-west gap.
His election seems to be part of a world-wide swing to the right, which can be seen (with exceptions) in the political climates from America to Germany to Canada to Australia. I am not going to speak of the world-wide conservative conspiracy (because it odes not exist), but I am concerned. Why are people suddenly afraid of progress, of change? I like traditiona s much as the next man (as can be seen by my excessive interest in the Conclave), but not when it comes to improving people's lives or maintaining the status quo.
I would love to hear some comments on this, and am very likely to follow this up.
Your Servant,
René Hammarskjöld
SecState
Shadow Government of the USA
WTF Is Going on in Rome Continues
Sorry I haven't been keeping up with what's going on. I'll make them up eventually
If you are concerned who will be the next pope, perhaps you'll be interested to see what some betting odds are:
http://www.oddschecker.com/betting/mode/o/odds/124960x/mbid/5714253
Enjoi!
WTF is going on in Rome --Part II
Today we get down to brass tacks, and talk about the actual convoluted election process for the pope, known as the conclave. I hope you enjoy my ramblings, as. . .
Rene's Handy Guide to the Conclave Continues. . .
History of the ConclaveThe election of the pope has a long and somewhat mixed history. In the extreme beginning, the main duty of the pope was to be Bishop of Rome, and he was thus selected by the priests of Rome. However, as the dioscese of Rome gained more and more influence, the selection process also became more and more interesting. Gregory X decided that after his election (which lasted over two and half years, really!) decided that a new method was needed to elect a pope. He found his answer in the conclave --a process in which the Cardinals were isolated from the outside world. Interestingly enough, he also stipulated that after a certain period they be restriced to one meal a day, and later still a simple diet of bread, water, and wine. His attempts at hastening elections essentially worked, the first conclave only lasted 1 day, the next 7. However, throughout history, some popes decided to revoke the conclave in favour of a different method of election. The conclave did incessantly return, however, and has been used in its present form since the late 16th century.
How it Works TodayAs one can well imagine, over the centuries of use, the conclave has evolved into a highly ritualized event. I shall try to take you through the approximate chronology of how things proceed. I have tried to include as much of the details as possible without making my account completely unreadable:
The canonic laws stipulates that the Cardinal-Electors and their entourages (referred to as conclavists) be completely cut off from the rest of the world. In previous years, this has been done by walling-off parts of the Apostolic Palace adjacent to the Pauline and Sistine Chapels. Cardinals were forced to sleep in makeshift rooms (cells) which usually served as storage chambers or stairwells. This year, for the first time, Cardinals are housed in a quasi-Hotel with real rooms in the Vatican and will be bussed to the Sistine/Pauline Chapels each morning. They will, however, still be completely cut off from the world literally, and by blocking media outlets.
While in the Conclave, each Carinal may be accompanied by two conclavists (ecclastical persons or priests), unless he is sick, in which he may have a third conclavists. Also locked into the conclave are medical personel and priests to take confession. Exactly how that will be handled this year, with the seperate buildings is widely unknown: in the past, the sealed off portions of the palace would be connected to the outside world through 4 ports, all of which were guarded.
Before the actual voting and politiking begins, a few points of business must be taken care of. All Cardinals and their conclavists are sworn to a strict vow of silence concerning the proceedings --if they break their vow, they face an ipso-facto excommunication. This all takes place during the service in the Pauline Chapel the morning of the first day of voting, in a service led by the Dean of the College of Cardinals (Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger). The afternoon of the first day, the Cardinals are ushered into the Sistine Chapel for their first vote -- subsequent votes will take place twice a day, once in the morning, once in the afternoon.
The Sistine chapel has been outfitted with chairs for each of the Cardinals (each topped by a baldachim to symbolize the equality of all electors). No conclavists are not allowed in for the voting. Each Cardinal is handed a slip of paper, which is identified only by a passage from the scriptures. This passage is unique to each cardinal, and can be used to identify the pope-elect in a close election. Each cardinal is provided two ballots per voting proccess, all of which begin with the latin prhase "Eligo in Summum Pontificem" which means "I elect as Supreme Pontiff." In voting, Cardinals take great care to disguise their handwriting, to ensure privacy. To actually vote, the cardinals get up in order of precedence and ascend to the altar. After reciting an oath signifying the sincerety of their vote, the enter their ballot into a ceremonial urn (up until this conclave, a chalice has been used.) If there is no ready leader visible, it is typical for all cardinals to vote for themselves, thereby ensuring that no hasty decision is reached by accident.
This process is referred to as an election "by scrutiny." While there are two other methods possible according to Gregory X's rules (appointment by an elected council, and by divine inspiration), though John Paul II's amendments to the conclave rules have made this all but impossible. For the "scrutiny" process, three scrutatores (scruteneers) are selected by lot to recieve and count the votes. Their work will be checked by three revisores. For those cardinals who are present, but are bedridden, three infirmarii are selected to collect their ballots. A two thirds majority is necessary for the election. In cases of a very close election, the scrutineers find the pope-elects ballot by means of the excerpt of scripture to ensure that he did not vote himself before proclaiming the results. According to John Paul II's rule modifications, after two days of unsucessful voting, the Cardinals take a one day break for prayer and some major politiking. After they reconvene on the 4th day, the need for a 2/3 majority is taken away, all that is now required to become pope are 58 votes. Each vote taken will be burned in a furnace, the chimeny of which is directly visible to the outside world. If the vote is unsucssful, straw is added to produce black smoke. If it is sucessful, chemicals are added to produce a white smoke.
This process will repeat ad nauseum, so let us skip to the very end. After a sucessful round of voting, a small group of Cardinals are lead to the hall outside the Chapel, where the Dean of the College of Cardinals will ask the pope-elect if he accepts his charge. Should he accept, there is a bit of business to be taken care of again. Though in the past few hundered years, all popes have been cardinals beforehand, theoretically every Catholic male is elegible. Should the pope-elect not be an ordained priest and bishop, that is taken care of right there in the hallway. The pope must also choose a papal name, a process that is some 1500 years old. That having been done, he enters the "Room of Tears" off the Sistine Chapel to select his papal vestments from thre available sizes. Properly suited up, he is presented to the assembled Cardinals in the Chapel, where he takes his oath of office and chooses his Cardinal Camerlengo, who places a the fisherman's ring on his finger. The Senior Cardinal Deacon then leads the group the facade of St. Peter's Basilica, where he proclaims the new pope in a statement including the ever-memorable phrase "habemus papa!" --"we have a pope!" The new pope then undertakes his first blessing, signifying the sign of the cross and simply stating "Urbi et Orbi". City (Rome) and World.
In past years, the new pope would also be crowed with the papal tiara, but this practice has been discontinued since the Second Vatican Council
I hope you enjoyed my brief summation of the highly complex proceedings. Please feel free to correct me if I have made any factual errors.
Also remember, the series continues!
Tomorrow The History of Papal Elections (more in-depth than above)
Saturday Approximate Chonology of the Conclave
Sunday The Papabili
In Commemoration
Yesterday, April 13, was National Day of Silence, a nation-wide youth organized movement to speak out against discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. In coordinating Day of Silence activities on our campus, I rediscovered what it means to galvanize people to a cause.
One year ago, I wrote in my journal that I felt Day of Silence was a petty exercise, conducted mainly for symbolic reasons. It was, at least that year, the kind of protest that comes with folk music and dignified marches. For whatever reason, this year had a kind of ferocity than last year lacked.
I would like to attribute that change to leadership, as well as a changed political climate. Leadership-wise, our coordinating staff pursued a much more active advertising campaign and reached out to as many people as we possibly could - through flyers and posters, as well as talking to our friends who talked to their friends. Political-climate-wise, the 2004 Presidential Elections obviously upped the ante for people who have some level of sensitivity for their fellow-men. The passage of gay marriage bans in many states and the re-election of a decidedly anti-GLBT administration, among other things, helped get people in gear to stand against injustice.
Perhaps I was wrong about Day of Silence being a petty, ceremonial exercise - or maybe I just wasn't aware of the problems that were hovering over us, and that have now manifested themselves in kind both politically and socially.
Cayden Lucas Mak
President of the Shadow Government of the United States
WTF is going on in Rome? --Part I
Being faced with an event that is likely to happen only 3-4 times in our life, a lot of us (and by us I mean every homo sapiens within a busride's distance of a TV or newspaper) find ourselves captivated by the impending conclave. But what the hell is a conclave, better yet, what is a pope? What is all that crazy italian everyone is throwing around like crazy?
Here is a reader's digest answer to all your questions:
RENE’S HANDY GUIDE TO THE CONCLAVE
Glossary of Terms:
Apostolic Palace
One of the main residential/administrative buildings in the Vatican, this palace is also the site of the papal apartments, which overlook St. Peter’s square.
Cardinal
A Catholic functionary so designated by the pope. Most cardinals serve in a "pastoral" mission, i.e., as bishop or archbishop. A significant percentage (including papabile Joseph Ratzinger), however, are Vatican administrators (also known as members of the cura, or curists), holding offices such as "Prefect" or "Pro-Prefect" of offices or congregations. A Cardinal, like a Bishop, is addressed as “Your Eminence.”
Cardinal Camerlengo
The pope’s chamberlain (personal secretary and butler). During the Sede Vacante, he assumes the duty of head of state, and leads the preparations for the conclave, etc.
College of Cardinals
The congregation of cardinals that elects the future pope. It is headed by a Dean, the current one being Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. To be a member, one must be a cardinal and of the age of 79 or younger (according to the last constitution, as promulgated by John Paul II). They assemble in Rome in the days before the conclave. The size of the College is limited to 117 by the above-mentioned constitution. For the conclave, the expected size is 115, as two eligible Cardinals are ill.
Conclave
The meeting of the College of Cardinals to elect a pope. See tomorrow’s post for an in-depth description.
Cura
The Vatican Bureaucracy. Workers therein are referred to as curists.
Papabili (plural); Pababile (singular)
Italian word describing the most likely contenders for the papacy. In recent years, however, papabili have had an awful track record. None of the past 3 popes were papabile, which puts their track record at about 3:4 in this century. A popular saying goes "enter the conclave a pope and leave it a cardinal."
Pope:
The pope (Papa in italian) is the Supreme Pontiff, and head of the Roman Catholic church, as well as Bishop of Rome and holder of a few other titles. He also acts as head of state of the Apostolic See (colloquially: Holy See, Vatican). Said to be the direct descendant (spiritually not literally) of the first pope: Peter He is elected for life, and is infallible in any statement he so chooses (the only time this has ever been invoked was in the defenition of the Virgin Mary). As the head of over 1 billion Catholics, his influence is clear, though the extent of it is disputed. Recent appeals of the pope to catholic politicians on certain pro-life issues, for example have gone unheeded. On the other hand, John Paul II's anti-condom campaign has been quite sucessful (see AIDS, deaths due to). A pope is addressed as “your Holiness.”
Sede Vacante
Italian phrase meaning literally: Vacant See (referring to the Apostolic See). This is the name given to the period between the death of a pope, and the official proclamation of a new one. The current Sede Vacante began with the death of John Paul II on April 2. During the Sede Vacante the Cardinal Camerlengo is the head of state of the Vatican.
Sistine Chapel
Part of the Vatican Complex and adjacent to St. Peter’s Basilica, this chapel is the site of the Conclave. Notably, its ceilings were painted by Michelangelo.
St. Peter’s Basilica
The main “church” of the Vatican, and definitely one of the most important in the world. According to (highly disputed) legend, it is built over the grave of St. Peter, the first Pope. The grottos below the Basilica contain the graves of most popes (including John Paul II), and supposedly that of St. Peter.
St. Peter’s Square
The Square in front of the above Basilica. Stadium-sized, this is where thousands (who am I kidding, tens of thousand) awaited the news of the Pope’s death, and subsequently waited in line to see his body lying in state.
Vatican
More formally known as the Apostolic See (or Holy See), this district in Rome is a sovereign state and the seat of the Roman Catholic Church. This is the last remaining of the Papal States, which were removed from papal power by the Italian civil war. After this event, many popes melodramatically described themselves as “prisoners of the Vatican” and refused to leave its walls. Nowadays, the Vatican is the seat of the Cura, containing the Apostolic (Papal) Palace, St. Peters Basilica, St. Peter’s square, the Sistine Chapel, administrative buildings, the Vatican Archives, and many more. Definitely worth a visit if you’re in Rome.
The Series Continues:
Thursday --The Conclave
Friday --The History of Papal Elections
Saturday --Approximate Chronology of this Conclave
Sunday --This Conclave’s Papabili
