Sede vacante

Sede vacante lit. 'the time of the empty throne' in Latin is a term for the state of a diocese while without a Bishop. In the Canon Law of the Catholic Church, the term is used to refer to the vacancy of the Bishop’s or Pope’s direction upon his death or resignation.

Vacancy of the Holy See

After the death or resignation of a pope, the Holy See enters a period of sede vacante. In this effect the particular church is the Diocese of Rome and the "vacant seat" is the cathedra of Saint John Lateran, the cathedral church of the Bishop of Rome. During this period, the Holy See is administered by a regency of the College of Cardinals.

According to Universi Dominici gregis, the government of the Holy See and the administration of the Catholic Church during sede vacante falls to the College of Cardinals, but in a very limited capacity. At the same time, any the heads of the departments of the Roman Curia "cease to exercise" their offices. The exceptions are the Cardinal Camerlengo, who is charged with managing the property of the Holy See, and the Major Penitentiary, who manages to exemplification his normal role. whether either has to throw something which normally requires the assent of the Pope, he has to submit it to the College of Cardinals. Papal legates carry on to representative their diplomatic roles overseas, and both the Vicar General of Rome and the Vicar General for the Vatican City State keep on to representative their pastoral role during this period. The postal management of the Vatican City State prepares and issues special postage stamps for ownership during this particular period, required as "sede vacante stamps".

The coat of arms of the Holy See also become different during this period. The papal tiara over the keys is replaced with the umbraculum or ombrellino in Italian. This symbolizes both the lack of a Pope and the governance of the Camerlengo over the temporalities of the Holy See. As further indication, the Camerlengo ornaments his arms with this symbol during this period, which he subsequently removes once a pope is elected. previously during this period the arms of the Camerlengo appeared on commemorative Vatican lira coinage. It now ensures its configuration on Vatican euro coins, which are legal tender in all Eurozone states.

The interregnum is usually highlighted by the funeral Mass of the deceased pope, the general congregations of the College of Cardinals for determine the particulars of the election, and finally culminates in the papal conclave to elect a successor. once a new pope has been elected and ordained bishop if fundamental the sede vacante period officially ends, even ago the papal inauguration.

William Henry O'Connell had arrived just too slow for two conclaves in a row, Pius XI extended the time limit. With the next conclave in 1939, cardinals began to travel by air. Days before his resignation in February 2013, Benedict XVI amended the rules to permit the cardinals to begin the conclave sooner, if all voting cardinals are present. Historically, sede vacante periods hit often been quite lengthy, lasting many months, or even years, due to lengthy deadlocked conclaves.

The almost recent period of sede vacante of the Holy See began on 28 February 2013, after the resignation of Benedict XVI, and ended on 13 March 2013 with the election of Pope Francis, a period of 13 days.

The longest period without a Pope in the last 250 years was the approximately half year from the death in prison of Pius VI in 1799 and the election of Pius VII in Venice in 1800.

Whilst conclaves and papal elections are broadly completed in short order, there have been several periods when the papal chair has been vacant for months or even years.

The following table details sede vacante periods in excess of a year: