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FAQs

Overview

What is the main goal of the Conclave Committee? 
The main goal of the Conclave Committee is to elect a true pope of the Catholic Church. 

What justification is there for conducting a papal election? 
Volumes have already been written on this subject.  However, in a nutshell, it goes as follows.  The Catholic Church needs a pope to give authority and jurisdiction to the rest of the Catholic clergy.  Without a pope, there can be no consecrations of bishops, no ordinations, no parishes, and ultimately the possible loss of Apostolicity.  Therefore it is God’s will that His Church have a visible Vicar of Christ on earth.  There are few true Cardinals living at this time (at least not known), and therefore it falls on the Remnant Church, clergy and laity, the duty under God to conduct an election to restore the papacy. 

Will the Conclave Committee follow the rules of former Conclaves held at the Vatican? 
While the plans are to follow the “spirit” of former conclaves to elect, certain things must change to accommodate the Church’s situation today.  God’s laws cannot be changed, man’s laws (ecclesiastical laws) can.  Since the procedures of former conclaves are ecclesiastical in nature, they can be changed, or revised, as common sense dictates.   The Conclave Committee has the authority to create, revise and promulgate the ground rules by which the election will be conducted. 

Who gives the Conclave Committee the authority to conduct the election? 
We believe that it is Almighty God.  We believe it is the will of God to have a pope for His Church. 

Is the Conclave Committee a self-appointed group? 
The Conclave Committee is composed of volunteers who saw a need to continue the election process after the leader of the former Instauratio movement was found to be defective in allegiances and in progress, and thus the Instauratio movement was discarded. 

Why was the Instauratio movement found to be defective? 
The leader of the Instauratio movement gave and still continues to give allegiance to a European priest who was known to be working in a Novus Ordo seminary and reporting to a Novus Ordo superior.  The function of a seminary is to produce priests, and having a priest who purports to be traditional while working for the creation of Novus Ordo priests is directly opposed to the restoration of the Catholic Church.  This European priest claims to simply take a salary from the Novus Ordo while having no allegiance to them.  However, common sense says that it is simply unconscionable to work in a place that furthers the cause of the Novus Ordo. 

Furthermore, the leader of the Instauratio movement maintains that a valid election cannot be had without the participation of Europe.  Since 10 years have past and the former Instauratio leader is still looking for any valid clergy in Europe, common sense dictates that he has done his homework and cannot find any, or at least any that are willing to participate.  In effect, the Catholic Church would wait forever till all the old priest have died off, thus losing Apostolicity. 

What is Apostolicity? 
Apostolicity is the continuing link of the Catholic Clergy from the present day in unbroken succession back to the days of the Apostles. The future of Holy Orders is at stake, in that only one priest (as far as we can determine) is faithful to Christ and holds Holy Orders.  Waiting until he is dead will put Catholics in the position of having to convert a heretical bishop before Holy Orders can be continued in the Catholic Church.  For these reasons, which threaten Apostolicity, delays in the election are out of order. 

Of course, the Pope is needed to be the center of unity - binding all the Catholics together. 

Are there any requirements for being on the Conclave Committee? 
Other than being a true Catholic, with a definite focus on electing a valid pope in a timely manner, there are no formal requirements. 

Is worldwide or local representation on the Conclave Committee required? 
No.  Some have maintained that geographies with the bulk of electors should have a representative much like that of a political district.  In conclaves of past eras, there were times when certain countries were not represented by Cardinals at the conclave.  The same holds true today with respect to the Conclave Committee.  We presently have 2 members from the USA and 1 from Australia.  There was one member from Wisconsin who for personal reasons decided not to be on the Conclave Committee. 

Is there a minimum number of members on the Conclave Committee? 
Yes. Three (3) is the minimum number of members on the Conclave Committee.  This is required to ensure validity by triple checking each vote. 

I believe this to be an invalid and futile effort to elect.  I have decided not to participate, and have thus been denied the sacraments.  Isn’t this unfair? 
A priest is duty bound, under pain of sin, not to administer the sacraments to known heretics and/or schismatics.   To believe that the Remnant Catholics does not have the God-given authority and duty to elect is to place oneself in the position of a heresy and/or schism.  Catholics who oppose the papal election are opposing a necessary function of the Church.  So, no, it is not unfair.  We should not think ill of a priest who is true to God’s laws, the Church’s laws and his own conscience. 

Our priest has gone to saying mass by invitation only, whereas he used to say mass for all the Catholics in his community.  Why? 
Our understanding of the situation is that one Sunday after mass, one (or some) of the Catholics became verbally abusive with the priest on the issue of the election and its validity.  The priest became concerned about the possibility of bodily harm.  Any person may protect his own person, by doing whatever it takes.   In the case of the priest, holding mass in different secluded locations by invitation was the obvious answer.  The Conclave Committee supports the priest in his decision, because as a papabile, it is more important to safeguard the remaining clergy than for a number of Catholics to have their Sunday Mass. 

In prior eras, when there were valid bishops, the bishop had the authority to place an “interdictum” on a disruptive person or an entire church if such became disruptive in Church.  This, in effect, would “shut down” the church until such time as the situation was resolved.  A priest does not have the power to place an “interdictum,” but he does have the right and duty to avoid such disruptions and possible harm. 

Is the Conclave Committee “rushing” the election? 
The Conclave Committee believes that progress is proceeding at a pace that is directed by God, not too slow and not too fast.   A too-slow pace was the standard for the Instauratio movement, waiting years and years to find candidates which never materialized.  Too fast means proceeding without having done the proper justification, planning, instruction and communication.  The Conclave Committee has a project in plan in place (much like a business would do) which addresses all these aspects. 

If I register as an elector, can I decide not to vote?   
The Elector Registration form has the question asking if the elector will participate in the voting for the election of the true pope.  While an elector may decide to register but without the intention of voting, that defeats the purpose of the registration.  The Conclave Committee wants electors who are both qualified and who intend to exercise their right to vote. 

What are the requirements for an elector? 
An elector must be baptized Catholic, i.e. a faithful member of the Church, and must have reached the age of puberty, which for males is age 15 and for females, age 13.   To further protect the integrity of the voting, the Conclave Committee has decided to exercise its authority to change the rules of past conclaves and require that those under age 18, having reached puberty, must  also be certified by their “voting” parents as having a good understanding of the justifications, the process, and the seriousness of what they are doing in voting for the Vicar of Christ. 

The reason is as follows:  In the current Church situation -- even for some adults it can be difficult to comprehend the enormity of what they are doing and to exercise sound judgment in the election.  The possibility exists that a very young person, age 13 or 15, might treat the election as a “popularity contest” rather than to elect the man who will best serve as the Vicar of Christ.  To avoid any future challenges to the validity of the election, the Conclave Committee has decided to take this additional step. 

There are also several exclusions, which are: (1) a person who is incapable of human acts (which includes infants, the senile and various categories of the mentally ill; (2) a person who has been excommunicated by a valid ecclesiastical authority; (3) a person who has enrolled in or has publicly adhered to an heretical or a schismatic sect; (4) a person who is disqualified due to the legitimate sentence of an ecclesiastical judge; (5) a person who is forbidden to exercise his/her right of voting; (6) a person who is expelled from an election. 

What is the Conclave Committee doing to prepare for possible future challenges to the validity of the election? 
The Conclave Committee is saving many documents and computer files in a safe-deposit box for possible future challenges to the election.  These include the preparation documents, the voting codes, the actual ballots cast, whether by FAX, EMAIL or VOICE (for VOICE, it is 3 copies of each vote, initialed by each committee member), etc.  Such documents and files will only be made accessible by papal order. 

What are the requirements for a man to be a pope (papabile)? 
To be papabile, a person: (1) must be male; (2) must be baptized; (3) must be a Catholic, ie. a faithful member of the Church. 

Note:  Many think that it is a requirement that a person be a Cardinal, or a Bishop or even a Priest to be elected pope.  This is untrue.  While it is preferable that such is the case, it is not a requirement.  A true pope can make priests, bishops and cardinals.  If a layman were elected pope, that pope could have another bishop or priest supply Holy Orders to the newly-elected pope. 

Will any papabile be on the Conclave Committee? 
No.  While conclaves of past times, by their very nature, did have the Cardinals (all papabile) conduct the election, under the natural law method being used in the current election, it could (or would) be taken as serious flaw in the process should a papabile man be involved in the proceedings.  Someone might claim, and rightly so, that such a man may have rigged the election.  Thus, anyone who is papabile will not participate as a member of the Conclave Committee. 

This is not to say that a papabile cannot be consulted as an advisor prior to the election.  The knowledge of both God’s laws and ecclesiastical laws is germane to the process and a learned advisor in such matters is needed to ensure that the Conclave Committee acts in an upright and valid manner. 

How will voting be conducted? 
The electors will choose any of 3 different methods of casting a vote, either FAX, EMAIL or VOICE.  We believe that most electors will choose VOICE because it is the most convenient.  Procedures have been established and will be given to the registered electors well prior to the actual start of the conclave. 

Are there any backup procedures in place? 
Yes.  Since this election will be conducted using the electronic vehicles of FAX, EMAIL, and VOICE TELEPHONE, the Conclave Central will have a primary computer and a backup computer available.  It will have a primary fax machine available, and a backup computer-fax available.  There will be 3 telephone lines available, a primary to be used 90% of the time for incoming VOICE votes and 10% of the time for retrieving incoming EMAIL votes. The 2nd telephone line will be used as the primary fax line and a backup voice line.  The 3rd line will be a mobile telephone line to be used as an emergency backup.  Should any elector not be able to get their vote in within 6 hours of the deadline, they are instructed to use the emergency-ONLY line.  Please pray to the Holy Ghost that the technology will work and that we will not need to use any of these contingency plans. 

Are there any other preparations being done? 
Yes.  There will be a TEST (or DRY RUN) vote done approximately 1 month prior to the start of actual voting.  All registered electors are expected to participate in this DRY RUN.  The Conclave Committee will use this TEST to evaluate the process, and make any alterations necessary for the actual vote. 

How will you ensure authenticity of each vote? 
Each registered elector will be sent via surface mail, a sealed envelope with “voting codes,” which are random computer-generated numbers.  The voting code sheet is a single page with voting codes enough for 40 ballots.  The voting code is unique for each ballot and each elector has a unique set of voting codes.  The elector is to leave the envelope sealed until the actual start of the conclave.  During the voting, the ballot must contain, among other information, the correct voting code for that ballot.  If this is not given, the vote will be disallowed.  The voting code must be given for any method of voting, FAX, EMAIL, or VOICE. 

How will the Conclave Committee ensure the secrecy and accuracy of the voting? 
At the Elector side, it is the responsibility of each Elector to ensure privacy of his or her own vote, whether by FAX, EMAIL, and VOICE.  For FAX, hide the page and destroy the page after the vote is case.  For EMAIL, make sure that after the message is sent, it is totally erased from the sending computer.  For VOICE, make sure that the vote is cast from a private room so no one nearby can hear. 

At Conclave Central, the process dictates that a minimum of 3 committee members verify and record the votes to ensure accuracy.  For VOICE votes, the process is for the elector to “say” the voting information three (3) times, once to each of the Conclave Committee to ensure accuracy of hearing. 

The Conclave Committee will be the only persons who will know who voted for who, and in the spirit of conclaves past, will take an oath of secrecy that they will never reveal who voted for who. 

When I phone my vote in, can I find out the current status? 
No.  During a VOICE vote, there shall be no idle chatter, nor discussion of the vote in progress.  The VOICE vote shall be quick and to the point so as not to tie up the phone line.  The Conclave Committee will direct the VOICE conversation so as to be efficient and timely. 

Can I expect busy signals? 
As many electors will be phoning in a ballot, and as the Conclave Committee is working on a shoe-string budget and limited resources (unlike the Vatican), you can expect busy signals.  The Conclave Committee reminds all Electors to keep dialing. 

How long will each ballot take? 
The plan is for each ballot to take 24 hours.  This may be revised (extended) by the Conclave Committee if necessary, but it will certainly not be shortened.  Each ballot will have a due date and time published by the Conclave Central. 

Can we vote via registered mail? 
No.  A few people have asked for this method, but registered mail is much too slow for a worldwide electorate.  Such requests for registered mail voting were made prior to the VOICE voting method being implemented.  We believe that VOICE voting addresses the concerns where previously only FAX and EMAIL were planned. 

How will the Conclave Committee inform the electorate of the results of each ballot? 
The Conclave Committee will communicate back to the electorate the results of each ballot (and the “Habemus Papam” announcement) using either of the 3 methods, FAX, EMAIL, or VOICE. 

To facilitate outbound communications from the Conclave Committee, the concept of a “Local Coordinator” will be implemented.  In geographies where there are several Electors, a “Local Coordinator” will be appointed and this person will have a group of Elector for which he is responsible.  The Conclave Committee will communicate the back to the “Local Coordinator” who then has the responsibility to disseminate the information to that group.