A change in popes — through death or resignation — is a complicated process, with centuries-old rituals involving the transition in leadership for both the spiritual head of the global Catholic Church and the Vatican’s head of state.
These are the need-to-know terms — some of them in Latin — to help make sense of news in the coming days:
Who is the Vatican camerlengo?
This is the “chamberlain” — the cardinal in charge of formally verifying the pope’s death — and then sealing his room and study. Between then and the election of the new pope, the camerlengo administers the “goods and temporal rights” of the Holy See. The current one
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