Having finished a week of preliminary matters, we congregants are poised to enter the election phase of the congregation. The prominent feature of this phase is known as the murmuratio, four days of “murmuring,” that is, of engaging one-on-one with other electors in conversation about potential candidates for general.
During this phase we are not exactly locked away (as in papal conclaves [con clave = with a key] in some earlier centuries), but our interaction is limited to voting members of the congregation and others who might know potential candidates and directed by clear rules of engagement — for example, there can be nothing resembling electioneering or campaigning for a certain person. After the days of murmuratio, the electors convene in the aula for the election. If the murmuratio has been effective, the election should not take very long— nothing remotely resembling some papal conclaves when elections went on for months, even years. John Paul II instituted the requirement that after 33 ballots, if a 2/3 majority had not agreed on a pope, a simple majority would suffice. Benedict XVI restored the 2/3 majority. We Jesuits are satisfied with a simple majority throughout the election. Thus we hope to conclude the election within a matter of hours. During the election phase of the congregation, which begins tomorrow (Monday), communication with those outside the congregation is strictly limited. By the time you hear from me again, perhaps next Sunday, you will already have received the name of the new general of the Society of Jesus.
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