Should the next conclave vote less?

Conclaves, the sequestered meetings of the college of cardinals which elect the pope, have maintained an aura of secrecy and ritual throughout the centuries.

Cardinals meet to begin a conclave. Image via Thesistinechapel.org

But despite the appearance of timeless continuity, successive popes have made a point of tinkering with the proper law of papal elections, keeping the process up to date and, hopefully, fit for purpose as the Church moves through history.

Some of these changes have been historic, and at times deeply controversial. Others have been more banal, so much so that they failed to register as major news items when they occurred.

At 87, Pope Francis has long been expected to leave his mark on the laws governing the election of his successor.

Last year, his go-to canon lawyer Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda was even known to be working on some “big picture” changes for the process — dramatically narrowing the number of cardinals who could attend even the pre-conclave public meetings — though he subsequently denied it.

While those plans seem to have been shelved, a Church historian with an ear to the Vatican walls has proposed a less seismic reform: seeing the cardinals in conclave vote less often.

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