header-logo header-logo

Holy smoke

02 May 2025 / Athelstane Aamodt
Issue: 8114 / Categories: Features , International
printer mail-detail
217259
As the world waits to find out who will become the next pope, Athelstane Aamodt explains how the Catholic Church will make the decision

How does the Catholic Church decide who is going to be pope? Most people seem to be aware of the College of Cardinals, which gathers to form a conclave that meets and votes in secret until one of their number has achieved enough votes. What perhaps fewer people know about is the complex laws that govern papal elections, and how they came into being. 

The use of cardinals to elect a pope was only codified in 1059 by Pope Nicholas II. Before then, the appointment of popes was haphazard. In 236, a dove landed on the head on the future Fabian II and, according to Eusebius of Caesarea (265-339), ‘thereupon the people, all as if impelled by one divine spirit, with one united and eager voice cried out that he was worthy, and immediately they set him on the episcopal seat’. The Eastern Roman Emperor, Justinian I (527-565), after he

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Mourant—Stephen Alexander

Mourant—Stephen Alexander

Jersey litigation lead appointed to global STEP Council

mfg Solicitors—nine trainees

mfg Solicitors—nine trainees

Firm invests in future talent with new training cohort

360 Law Group—Anthony Gahan

360 Law Group—Anthony Gahan

Investment banking veteran appointed as chairman to drive global growth

NEWS
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
In this week's NLJ, Steven Ball of Red Lion Chambers unpacks how advances in forensic science finally unmasked Ryland Headley, jailed in 2025 for the 1967 rape and murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne. Preserved swabs and palm prints lay dormant for decades until DNA-17 profiling produced a billion-to-one match
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll