Avignon / Rome

[ctwaterman]

Rome Sistine Chapel Vatican City February 4th 1913 Early Afternoon.

The Marshal of the Conclave Prince Mario Chigi a grand and majestic figure like that of an old Roman Senator appeared clad in his costume of Ceremonies, a large mantle of black velvet over his shoulder with a golden sword, the lace neck-ornaments and the cocked hat with white feathers proper to a Commander-in-chief.  With the traditional dignity of his illustrious house he fulfilled his office and locked the final door into the Conclave of Cardinals from without as the Camerlengo was doing the same from within.  Now these doors would not be opened again lest a Cardinal arrive late or one fall seriously ill within.

The Cardinals then retire to the Pauline Chapel for a mass given by the Cardinal Dean and receive communion.  They then retire to their chambers for a short time of contemplation before gathering together in the Sistine Chapel. 
One by one the Cardinals gather in the Sistine Chapel where the Alter is adorned with six lit candles.  On the Alter rest the paten and chalice to be used in the voting.  Each Cardinal is accompanied by this conclavists and bearing their portfolios.   After a short prayer given by the bishop sacristan the ballots each with a bit of biblical text on the outer fold are handed out to the Cardinals.  The conclavists then leave the Sistine chapel and one of the Cardinals bolts the door.

Hours latter the last Cardinal walks to the Alter and place his ballot on the Paten before reciting the following oath. "Testor Christum Dominum qui me judicaturus est me eligere quem secundum Deum judice eligi debere et quod idem in accessu præstabo"—"I call to witness the Lord Christ, Who will be my judge, that I am electing the one whom according to God I think ought to be elected", he then drops his ballot into the chalice from the Paten.
Three Cardinals chosen earlier by lot approached the chalice shook the container and counted the number of ballots to guarantee that it matched the number of Cardinals present.   They were joined by three additional Cardinals also chosen by lot.  The first three each examine the ballots one by one with the third Cardinal reading the name on the Ballot out loud.  The other three Cardinals also examine the Ballot and record the vote.

The results of the first Vote are as follows;
Diemede Cardinal Falcone - 1
Desire-Joseph Cardinal Mercier - 2
Felix Cardinal Romero- 10
Archbishop Maria Salvador Y Barrera- 2
Enrique Almaraz Cardinal Santos- 1
Joaquim Arcoverde Cardinal Cavalcanti- 1
Louis Cardinal Billot - 13
Louis Cardinal Lucon - 5
Aristide Cardinal Rinaldini- 4
Francesco Cardinal Volpe- 4
Giacomo Cardinal Chiesa- 2
Pietro Cardinal Maffi – 13
Antonio Cardinal Vico – 1

After the votes were tabulated the Cardinals broke for Lunch and some and quick politicking they were do back in the Sistine Chapel in less then 4 hours for another vote.

OOC Stuff:
            1.    I couldn't wait for Logi or Sachmle and they only had 1 vote each I cast there votes for them anytime they get a chance to get back online they are welcome to resume control of their cardinals.
            2.   Please prepare your ballot for round two vote afternoon of day 1 PM me again soon.

[The Rock Doctor]

4-5 Feburary 1913

Cardinal Rodriquez was intrigued; the vote was more divided than he'd anticipated.  His own colleague Cardinal Romero had scored third in the vote, and there were no early favorites.

Since it would be unseemly for Romero to actively campaign for himself, the Cuban was merely answering whatever questions were put to him by inquisitive Cardinals.  The Hapsburgers had been the source of many of these thus far, and the last thing Rodriquez had overheard from Romero was, "They possess an imperfect means of salvation which can be made perfect through our toil and perserverence" - he just wasn't sure who Romero had been asked about.

With this going on, Rodriguez was content to flitter about, speaking with the Italians and Frenchmen and taking stock of their views and issues.  He expected it would take a few more rounds for them to weed out the dark horses -  Falcone, Santos, and others - and he hoped that it would be a contentious process that might be exploitable.  It didn't seem necessary to add to that contention just yet.

Ah - the lone Irish cardinal was standing alone at a window.  Rodriguez made his way over, nodded, and engaged in small talk as a means of buying time while he thought up the right way to approach the man for his support for Romero.  Perhaps a carefully worded suggestion that the Gran Colombian parishes might celebrate the naming of a new pontiff with financial contributions to church projects in the Emerald Isle?

[The Rock Doctor]

OOC:  Folks:  Vote early and often, please, so that we can move this along at a brisk pace.

[Kaiser Kirk]

Cardinal Jakobus von Stammler of the Archdiocese of Lucerne smiled collegially as
Cardinal Franz von Bettinger of Munich approached.  A cordial exchange of pleasantries was followed by von Bettinger remarking, "I still say we decide on the 4th vote" to which von Stammler replied "and I still refuse to wager even in theory on such an event, we must conduct ourselves in the best tradition of the Church".

This latter led to a chuckle from von Bettinger "my dear fellow, I rather hope Gods grace leads us to a Pope that shall improve on those traditions, and be well suited to shepherd the flock in this new century."

[ctwaterman]

Sistine Chapel Vatican City Rome – February 4th 1913 Lunch

Actors:
Aristide Cardinal Rinaldini – Camerlengo of the College of Cardinals
Francesco Cardinal Della Volpe – Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church

Cardinal Rinaldini   "Well that was interesting Thirteen different candidates and some completely unforeseen candidates at that.  So what exactly should we be looking for here Brother."

Cardinal Volepe "Exactly what we discussed originally before the need for this conclave ever arose. Our goals have not particularly changed our goal was to bring the seat of St Peters thrown back to St Peters Basilica and the Holy City here in Rome.  Who sits on that seat well how goes the compromises with the French"

Cardinal Rinaldini   "I am not completely sure what many of our French Brethren want or desire.  It is clear that our actions to bring the election back here to Rome have at least put off enough of them that neither of us would be an acceptable compromise candidate at the moment." Looking vaguely relieved. "However there appears to be a movement towards at least two of our more conservative brethren and a movement towards some of the new thinkers."

Cardinal Volepe "We will have to be extremely careful then our Revered Father Pope Pius was a conservative an Anti Modernist if you will."  Stops to sip his wine.  "There is a great deal of opposition to electing another conservative immediately after another one.  What was the old saying in the Forum after a skinny Pope a Fat one."

Cardinal Rinaldini   Smiling at the last comment "Indeed but if our Brethren of the Curia and of France will not accept a purely Conservative Candidate, and this new faction will not accept a Liberal one then we must carefully tread the troubled waters to find a Moderate."  Stops to take a big bite of Lunch.  "Eat up Vollepe we may yet regret calling on Gregory X rules for this Conclave.  If we cannot decide in the next week we will all be on bread, water, and wine by the end of the week."

Cardinal Volepe Takes a large bite with gusto "At least Gregory was civilized about it and left us the wine unlike the angry citizens of Viterbo.  We need to keep this under control and find a compromise candidate that at least 40 of us can agree upon."

Cardinal Rinaldini Nods towards the door. "Finish up Brother but it appears they are summoning us back for another vote."

[ctwaterman]

Sistine Chapel Late Afternoon February 4th 1913.

With less ceremony but with no less solemnity the Cardinals filed in from their afternoon break.  They were gathered in small groups with the South American, Hapsburg, and Iberian Cardinals in one Group, the French comprised the second, and the Italian Cardinals making up the last group.   The ballots were passed out by the conclavist and they informed the Cardinals who were responsible for counting and tabulating the ballots as they had been chosen by lot while the Cardinals were at lunch.  The conclavist then left the Sistine Chapel and the serious business of voting resumed after the door was barred.

Felix Cardinal Romero	13
Arch Bishop Barrera	3
Louis Cardinal Lucon	1
Louis Cardinal Billot	3
Aristitde Cardinal Rinaldini	11
Desire-Joseph Cardinal Mercier	2
Francesco Cardinal Della Volpe	10
Giacomo Cardinal Dell Chiesa	3
Pietro Cardinal Maffi	13

I appologize to Sachlme,  and Logi for not waiting for them but the vote must go on.... :)
Edited to change Jefgte vote but there was no need :)

[The Rock Doctor]

4 February 1913

Another round done, and Cardinal Rodriguez noted that there were four fewer candidates now.  Just four of the remaining nine had scored double-digit tallies:  Romero, Rinaldini, Volpe, and Maffi. 

The likelihood of a messy split in the Italian vote seemed far off, given that Rinaldini and Volpe had eaten lunch together, and the French were apparently not thinking along national lines, since only four votes had been tallied for Lucon and Billot. 

Reflecting on the remaining candidates, he recalled that the Hapsburgers had expressed some support for Billot - support which appeared to be fading now.  He decided it might be worthwhile to chat with the Hapsburgers - both to see if he could convince any lingering doubters of Felix Romero's merits, and to see if the Hapsburgers knew who else might be supporting him - in case those cardinals might be willing to entertain a shift in vote.

[Kaiser Kirk]

Cardinal Franz von Bettinger: Do you sometimes ponder how this cryptic process is perceived beyond the walls?

Cardinal Jakobus von Stammler: Oh certainly, King Lugwig is certainly most frustrated watching smoke signals.

Cardinal Franz von Bettinger: Prinzregent Lugwig, I am sure is watching with great anticipation. The Prinzregent certainly was not reticent on the train about expressing his preference.

Cardinal Jakobus von Stammler : With the narrowed field, I may change my ballot, but not to the Prinzregents choice.

Cardinal Franz von Bettinger: Well it will be good for him to know the crown does not direct the cross.

Cardinal Jakobus von Stammler: I doubt he would be in Rome to acknowledge the new Pope if he thought otherwise.

Cardinal Franz von Bettinger : True, he has always been a good son of the Church.

[Guinness]

OOC: My apologies, as I'm thoroughly overworked this week, and not paying close attention.

I tried looking in Mike's link for information on the remaining 4, but didn't find them all, so I presume that maybe some of them are inventions of the N-verse. Can anyone post a quick summary of the remaining 4?

[The Rock Doctor]

Rinaldi, Volpe, and Maffi are historical; I think their links work in the Wikipedia article. 

Romero is entirely of my own creation.  Here is something I wrote for background on him:

Felix Romero was born in Zaragoza, Spain, in 1840; he is currently seventy-three years of age. 

He is in generally good health for a man of his age, although his right hip has troubled him for some time and impairs his mobility.  A relatively frugal lifestyle ( resulting from his missionary years), the pleasant climate, and a modest exercise regime have benefitted him.

His father was a cavarlyman in the Spanish Army for a time, and worked for a local rancher afterward.  His mother was the rancher's daughter; they had one son (now deceased) before Felix and one son (a railwayman in Iberia) and one daughter (deceased) afterward.

Felix initially joined the clergy with the dual intentions of seeing the world and spreading the Word of God.  To this end, his formal studies were limited, and he spent several years first in Spanish Morocco, then the Philippines, and finally Cuba.  In 1872, he was assigned to a church outside Holguin, Cuba, his predecessor having been killed in a hurricane.

Over the next thirty years, he rose through the Church hierarchy in Cuba, being named Archbishop of Havana in 1898.  As with other Church officials, he was opposed to the "top-down" socialist revolution imposed by the mad King Juan.  He worked with elements of the military and business sector to coerce Cuba's governor into seceding from communist Spain and seeking annexation by Gran Colombia.  Romero was later quoted as saying, "I regret that it harmed the nation of my birth, but it was in the best interests of the men and women I was responsible for."

He was named to the College of Cardinals in 1905.

Romero's views on a few key issues:

On Catholics in non-Catholic states:  "The Church has a duty to all its flock, wherever they may be."

On Protestants:  "On an imperfect path to salvation, which can be made perfect through our toil and perserverence."

On relocating the papacy to Rome:  "Avignon has served the holy fathers well, but we would do well to re-establish our roots in the place where our tree once grew."

On the division between Church and State:  "Heads of State serve at the pleasure of the Lord; it is our duty to provide moral guidance to them when they are distracted or led astray."

[Borys]

The Habsburgers are themselves split betwen Romero and Billot. But these prelates are contemplating pooling their votes, for a conservative candidate who would bring the Papacy back to Rome. Maffi is out of the question ...

[Guinness]

Too bad. Maffi looks like he was an interesting fellow.

Since my heretofore lazy strategy for dealing with the Papal election has come to an end, I'll have to figure out who the Cardinal from the CSA is voting for...

[Kaiser Kirk]

Too bad. Maffi looks like he was an interesting fellow.

Since my heretofore lazy strategy for dealing with the Papal election has come to an end, I'll have to figure out who the Cardinal from the CSA is voting for...

Several of them are interesting fellows. The ones with Italian or French votes behind them have something of an advantage... Iberia's pretty influential as well- if those vote en bloc. Otherwise we're all small fry and everyone is viable :)

[miketr]

Iberia in round one split its votes 4 ways
Round two it spit 2 ways
Round three reinforce still split two ways but gave up on one guy and reinforced two of the four leaders

[ctwaterman]

Remember Every Vote countes with 59 Cardinals Present it takes 2/3 +1 or 40 votes to elect, I would take all of the Italian Cardinals, all the French Cardinals and at least 4 more votes to elect a canidate.  If that Canidate had then voted for himself the Election would be invalidated. :o

So some of the Canidates have been very clearly not voting for themselves.  We are doing good work here and I think having a bit of fun playing at politics.  If we get a winner in under 10 Ballots we are doing good work.   If we go back to the 1800 elections with at least 50 days or 100 or so ballots then things are going bad.  At least as of this election we have eleminated the Veto so we dont have Borys, Miketr, and a possible French King [Long Gone] having a Cardinal Veto a canidate. :P

Oppologize to Borys for taking away his fun as he actually planned to use his Veto in this election.  ;)

Have fun and vote a few more voters and I think we might get round 3 done tonight as well......