ALTHOUGH the release in the Vatican yesterday of an updated apostolic constitution governing the election of the Pope inevitably attracted much attention, Pope John Paul II's new guidelines have in reality changed nothing of substance in relation to the handling of a papal conclave, reports Paddy Agnew in Rome.
Universi Dominici Gregis (The Shepherd of the Lord's Flock) not only decrees that the election of Pope John Paul's successor will take place in Sistine Chapel but also confirms two basic principles established by Paul VI in his 1975 document, Romano Pontifici Eligendo - namely that cardinals over the age of 80 may not vote and that the maximum number of cardinal electors is 120.
Pope John Paul's document also eliminates two rarely used voting methods - by acclamation or by compromise - ruling in favour of the existing two thirds majority vote, adding that if the conclave repeatedly fails to elect a two thirds majority winner, then the Pope can be chosen by absolute majority, again as already established by Pope Paul VI.
The most important novelties in the apostolic constitution concern living arrangements for the cardinals. Rather than being housed in converted offices around the Sistine Chapel they will now be accommodated in the modern Casa di Santa Marta in the Vatican grounds.
Pope John Paul II made this decision partly because of his own memories of struggling through stifling Rome heat during the August 1978 conclave which elected John Paul I. The new constitution also reaffirms rules of secrecy laid down by Paul VI, banning the use of fax machines, mobile phones or other electronic equipment by the cardinals during the conclave.