Pope Francis died from a stroke following a multiple-week battle with pneumonia. He became the pope of the Catholic Church following the abrupt resignation of Pope Benedict XVI in 2013.
The current president of the Dos Pueblos High School Catholic Club, Sky Beard-Armbruster (12), explained what happens when the pope dies, how the new pope will be elected, and how the announcement of a new pope comes out.
“Basically, the church goes into a state of nine days of mourning,” Beard-Armbruster said. “[Then], there will be what’s called a conclave. A conclave is a process when the College of Cardinals gets together in a secret ballot.”
After the vote, the color of the burned ballots announces the conclusion of the vote.
“Every time there’s a vote, the ballots are burned, and when they are burned black, that means a pope hasn’t been elected,” Beard-Armbruster said. “If they’re burned white, that means the pope has been elected.”
Catholics aren’t the only ones mourning. Protestant Quincy Barnwood (11) talked about how he felt regarding the death of the pope.
“I think, right now, it’s kind of heartbreaking because we need more people in the world like [the pope],” Barnwood said. “There’s not a lot of people in the world like him.”
Beard-Armbuster discussed how he learned about the pope’s death and said he had just woken up when he first heard about the news.
“I was barely awake, and in my mind, I was like ‘what happened?’” Beard-Armbuster said. “But it’s always very sad. Pope Francis was phenomenal, humble, kind; he loved the world, and he hated war.”
Barnwood said he found Pope Francis to be a “good” pope.
“He had super good policies on immigration and was open minded to say the least,” Barnwood said. “But, you know, he also upheld and respected the traditional values of the church.”
While some students considered him a “good pope,” others, such as Elizabeth Benison (11), viewed him as mediocre.
”Some people didn’t really like his policies because he was very Vatican II-esque and didn’t like the trads,” Benison said. “But I think, overall, he was okay.”
As the papacy moves forward with the conclave and voting, Beard-Armburster has expectations for the new pope.
“I hope the new pope is orthodox with his views of Christianity, but most of all, someone who loves God,” Beard-Armburster said.
Ultimately, the pope is now gone, and it’ll be some time before the next pope is elected.
“It’s tragic, but such is life,” Benison said.
