Helping children weather ‘sede vacante’

With the coming conclave, children may have questions as historic events are unfolding.

A consistory, gathering of cardinals, in St. Peter's Square two years ago. The College of Cardinals will form a conclave on May 7 to vote for the new pope. (Vatican Media)

By Emily Woodham

Staff Writer

Pope Francis’s death and the coming election of a new pope can lead children to wonder, “What now?  What happens to the Church?” Parents and caregivers can encourage children by telling them what happens after a pope dies and also that Jesus has important jobs for each of us during this historic time.

With the process of electing a new pope, there are Latin terms and Church practices that children will overhear frequently in their parish and in the news. From the College of Cardinals to the color of smoke from the Sistine Chapel, this is a great chance to teach children about the protocols and traditions the Church has followed for centuries. The children can see and be a part of history unfolding before their eyes.

“It’s important that they know that the Church continues her work while we wait for a new pope,” said Ginger Mortensen, director of elementary faith formation at St. Mark’s Parish in Boise. She has taught the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, a Montessori-based curriculum, for 20 years, and at St. Mark’s since 2016.

“The College of Cardinals meets to govern Vatican City and the Church while there is no pope, the time called sede vacante (‘the See, or chair, is vacant’),” Mortensen continued. “They only run the day-to-day tasks and have no authority to make decisions reserved only to the Vicar of Christ on earth.”

It is also the College of Cardinals that form the conclave, from the Latin con (with) and clavis (keys), a reference to the Keys to the Kingdom of God (the Church) given to St. Peter the Apostle and first Pope and to the doors of the Sistine chapel that are ceremonially locked during the conclave, which begins on Wednesday, May 7. Only cardinals under the age of 80 can elect the pope. For this conclave, 135 are eligible and two have decided not to attend due to illness, so 133 will meet each day at St. Peter’s Basilica until a pope is elected with a two-thirds (plus one) majority of 90 votes.

The world will watch for smoke rising from the Sistine Chapel chimney at the end of each day. The votes are mixed with a special chemical to produce black smoke when no pope has been chosen and white smoke when a new pope is chosen.

After the election, the new pope is brought to a small room where he will dress himself in the papal robes. This vestry is called the "Room of Tears" because many newly elected popes cry as they don the papal vestments for the first time.

One of the cardinals will accompany the newly elected pope to the loggia (balcony) overlooking St. Peter’s Square, and will announce, “Habemus papam!” (“We have a Pope!”). Then, the name the Pope has chosen is announced. Finally, the new pope will appear on the loggia for the first time, greet the many thousands of well-wishers, and offer his first papal blessing to the faithful. This unique blessing has a plenary indulgence attached to it with the usual conditions (listed below).

Ginger Mortensen, elementary faith formation director at St. Mark's Parish in Boise, prepares an altar for Catechesis of the Good Shepherd in the atrium, which has child-sized items to help children learn about the liturgy and the Bible with hands-on lessons. (ICR photo\Emily Woodham)

Children should also know that they can help Pope Francis, the Church and the new pope through prayers and acts of mercy. “Children need to know that Christ chooses to work through us,” said Mortensen.

“Jesus wants our help! We need to pray for the repose of the soul of Pope Francis, the wisdom of the Cardinal Electors, and the new Shepherd of our Church.”

When elected Pope in 2013, Francis asked the world to pray for him, Mortensen pointed out. “He did many humble and charitable things, but he asked us not to forget to pray for him. No matter how good a person is, we are all sinners and need to be commended to the mercy of God. If a person is already in heaven, those prayers are not wasted because they are applied to souls who need them and have no one to pray for them.”

Another way children, or anyone of any age, can honor Pope Francis is by continuing to celebrate the Jubilee of Hope as the Holy Father had instructed in his bull of indiction, Spes non confundit (“Hope does not disappoint”). Pope Francis included indulgences for oneself and others, including those in Purgatory, during the Jubilee. Acts of Mercy were particularly important to him.

An indulgence is not a grace that erases the eternal penalty for sin. Guilt due to sin can only be taken away by the Sacraments of Baptism and Confession. However, an indulgence is granted by God through the Church “that the temporal penalty for sin due to someone be reduced (or possibly eliminated). By God’s grace, participation in a prayer or action that has an indulgence attached to it brings about the necessary restoration and reparation without the suffering that would normally accompany it,” states the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops website.

“Each sin causes disarray in the world,” Mortensen explained. “We take care of that mess in purgatory, if we don’t do it now.” 

At dioceseofboise.org\jubilee, the Diocese of Boise lists the opportunities for indulgences during the Jubilee Year. A person who receives a plenary indulgence obtains full remission of punishment for sins committed. A person who receives a partial indulgence obtains partial remission. For the Jubilee Year, the faithful may make a pilgrimage to specified holy sites. In Idaho, the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Boise, St. Joseph’s Church in Pocatello, and All Saints Church in Lewiston are holy sites for the Jubilee.

Acts of Mercy also have indulgences attached to them: Visiting the sick or a prisoner, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, or welcoming a migrant, “in a sense making a pilgrimage to Christ present in them.” An indulgence could be obtained each day from such acts of mercy.

Acts of Penance, such as abstaining from distractions and donating to the poor, can also obtain an indulgence.

To receive an indulgence, one must participate in the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Eucharist. Then, a profession of faith and prayers for the Pope and his intentions— an Our Father, for example— must follow. (The Church allows one to participate in the Sacrament of Reconciliation within several days of the other acts required to receive the indulgence.)

As children pray and offer indulgences, they do the work Christ called them to do. “We are not just meant to receive the Sacraments and do nothing,” Mortensen said. “Think of the Parable of the Talents (Mt 25:14-30). When the Master gives talents to his servants, he expects that they will be used and the profit (graces) of the talents will multiply.”

It’s important for children to know that their work of prayer and acts of mercy are not over because a new pope has been elected, Mortensen said. “The pope needs to be the Good Shepherd for us all. So, pray that the Pope can listen to the voice of Christ and be that vicar of Christ on earth.”