The "Act Of The Devil" Clause

I really hope that Benedict XVI issues a new apostolic constitution governing conclaves.

It’s not a certainty that he will. He might rely on John Paul II’s Universi Dominici Gregis. But popes tend to revise the rules governing what happens after their deaths. Some have revised them more than once.

But there’s a specific reason I want Benedict XVI to issue such a document.

There’s something that has been missing from such documents heretofore: an "act of the devil" clause.

Now, you may be asking: "What’s that?"

Well, you know how some contracts have "acts of God" clauses to cover unforeseen circumstances like floods, fires, and other unlikely but possible events not caused by human agency?

Suppose that al-Qa’eda detonated a suitcase nuke near the Sistine Chapel and killed every single one of the cardinal electors during a conclave.

They’d do it! They’re fantatics! Of course they’d love to wipe out the leaders of the "crusaders" while in the process of electing a new "crusader leader"! It’d convulse a billion Catholics plus (to some extent) another billion Christians. They’d love to do that. Indeed, we already know that al-Qa’eda has wanted to kill the pope more than once. Wiping out a conclave is well within their field of consideration.

Now, this wouldn’t be an "act of God" for, although it would be permitted by God’s providence (if he permitted it to happen, that is), it wouldn’t be something produced by natural forces rather than human agency. (I.e., it was terrorists rather than a hurricane or an earthquake.)

Therefore, let’s call it an "act of the devil" since (even under the providence of God) it would likely be the devil motivating the terrorists.

What would happen with respect to the election of a new pontiff in that case?

Nobody knows.

Universi Dominici Gregis (UDG) doesn’t say. Neither does any other Church document.

That we know of.

It’s always possible that John Paul II prepared a secret document that might be brought forward in such an event (assuming it and those who had knowledge of it weren’t also wiped out by the suitcase nuke), but I doubt it. UDG covers elaborate contingencies.

But not this one.

If John Paul II made specific provision for such a circumstance, it should have been in UDG (which was released in 1996–five years before World War IV even started).

UDG also has clauses in it that prohibit the cardinal electors from making new arrangements for the election of a pontiff. So what would happen if they were all wiped out? UDG doesn’t seem to leave the Church any avenues for electing a new pontiff.

Given that, what would realistically happen in this circumstance?

Assuming that there was no secret "act of the devil" document, probably the following:

  1. There would be a huge convulsion of unbelievable intensity, both in the Catholic world and in the world in general.
  2. The surviving cardinals, who would be those over the age of 80 or otherwise sick and not at the conclave, would issue a statement decrying the tragedy and saying that, despite its unforeseen nature, it is the will of God for the Church to go on and for the Petrine ministry not to be extinguished.
  3. They would then hold a new conclave, either by gathering in one place (probably not Rome, but somewhere the terrorists wouldn’t have anticipated) or by telecommunications.
  4. They would elect a new pope.
  5. Most Catholics (and others) would accept the new pope (and his successors).
  6. But innumerable individuals for centuries to come would be tormented by doubts about whether the election of the new pope and his successor was valid since it was done in a way completely unprovided for by Church law.

To avoid this situation (and assuring the faithful’s reception of the new papal election as valid is one of this kind of document’s chief purposes), it makes all the sense in the world for the new pontiff to include in his document a provision for the surviving cardinals to elect a new pontiff in the wake of a disaster that wipes out a conclave, whether caused by man or nature.

I therefore hope that Benedict XVI issues an apostolic constitution governing the next conclave and that includes an explicit "act of the devil" clause.

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

14 thoughts on “The "Act Of The Devil" Clause”

  1. World War IV? Maybe this post belongs under the “Science Fiction” category.

    One would assume that if there were no Cardinals, then the right and duty of electing the Pope would fall to the whole Church gathered in an Ecumenical Council. That’s how the Great Western Schism was ended.

  2. One thing that I’m thinking of is that this last time there were 2 Cardinal-electors who were unable to come to Rome, and that those 2 would have to agree on someone.

    However, I agree, there should be a provision (all Archbishops automatically become Cardinals?)

  3. I think WW III was the Cold War in Jimmy’s chronology.

    Jimmy’s proposal doesn’t specifically address the “no cardinals left at all” problem, but I would hope any such papal document would.

  4. So wwho do we write to and what is there address to ask for an “act of the devil” clause for future conclaves?

  5. One would assume that if there were no Cardinals, then the right and duty of electing the Pope would fall to the whole Church gathered in an Ecumenical Council. That’s how the Great Western Schism was ended.

    This is all the more reason to outline precisely what should happen under such circumstances. The very last thing the Church needs is another Council of Constance.

  6. Thanks for addressing this issue, Jimmy. This is something I have wondered about for years. And I actually was somewhat glad to know that two of the Cardinal electors were unable to attend the most recent conclave (not glad that they were ill though), because I was worried about the possibility of just such a contigency.

  7. I actually thought about such a circumstance during the conclave. Although very unlikely, it’s not outside the realm of possibility. No way it is science fiction. They are all right there in that one building.

    Pope Benedict should provide for such a situation. I would argue that in such a case it may be best for the clergy of the diocese of Rome to meet and select their new bishop from among themselves. Although it is likely that a few elderly cardinals will still be alive, what if the terrorists attack at one of the general meetings before the actual conclave. It is conceivable that all cardinals except those too gravely ill to get to Rome would be dead.

  8. Didn’t something like this happen in R.H. Benson’s old book Lord of the World?

    If I remember correctly, Rome was bombed by the New Age world government and only a few cardinals were left alive. They ended up in the Holy Land, and elected the new pope there.

    I’ll have to re-read it to be sure.

  9. Didn’t something like this happen in R.H. Benson’s old book Lord of the World?

    Yes indeed. Only two were left because they were en route elsewhere at the time.

    Those who are interested can read Benson’s excellent work here.

  10. Well, assuming the entire College of Cardinals is somehow destroyed, it would seem that the surviving incardinated clergy of the city of Rome would have to resurrect their aboriginal obligations to elect a bishop to fill the vacant see.

  11. Well, assuming the entire College of Cardinals is somehow destroyed, it would seem that the surviving incardinated clergy of the city of Rome would have to resurrect their aboriginal obligations to elect a bishop to fill the vacant see.

    Herein lies the problem: there could easily develop in such a stressful time disagreements about just who would get to elect the new Pope. Would it be the bishops of the world coming together in some sort of ecumenical council, or would it be the clergy of Rome? What if both decided their way was right and we ended up with another Great Western Schism, i.e., with two people claiming to be the Pope? This is precisely why it would be a very good idea for Pope Benedict to issue another Apostolic Constitution outlining what would happen under just such a contingency.

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