Let me preface this with a comment: I am not interested in seeing this
devolve into a flamewar about the propriety of including religion - or
using present-day religions - in Traveller; I am assuming that _some_
people will have no objection to so including it and are willing to discuss
it civilly.

Question for the assembled; please note that I will be assuming that you
have some knowledge of how the Roman Catholic Church handles this
presently:

Currently, a Conclave to elect a Pope consists of (nominally) 120 cardinals
under the age of 80. (Note: the Conclave of 2025, which named Leo XIV as
Pope, consisted of 133 eligible cardinals.) These cardinals are sequestered
in closed quarters (in the Domus Sanctae Marthae), and cast secret ballots
(in the Sistene Chapel) up to four times per day, continuing until a single
candidate garners two-thirds of the cast ballots. This method is
historically called "Scrutiny"

The Conclave must be convened within fifteen (by preference) or twenty
(allowing for travel) days of the death or abdication of the previous Pope.

Historically, there were two other ways of selecting a Pope; neither of
these is currently considered a valid procedure:

  Acclamation: If the cardinal-electors were to unanimously declare "quasi
    afflati Spiritu Sancto" (as if inspired by the Holy Spirit) that John
    Smith is the Pope, it would be taken that John Smith is the new Pope.
    If no ballots (in Scrutiny) had been cast prior to the Acclamation, the
    new Pope would be said to have been chosen by Adoration. Acclamation
    was banned by Gregorius XV in 1621.

  Compromise: If the cardinal-electors were unable to come to a decision,
    they could delegate the decision to a committee, and would agree to
    abide by the committee's decision. This method was banned by Ioannes
    Paulus II in 1996.

The issue that should be addressed is the time limit: In the Traveller
milieu, a limit of twenty days allows only for those off-world cardinals
within one jump of Terra to be notified and convene at the Vatican.
Assuming J3, that covers ten worlds; J4 covers 17 worlds. Assuming that the
time limit does not change, cardinals from most of Charted Space would be
excluded from participation in the Conclave, and many might not even hear
about papal deaths and elections until months - or years - after the
events.

Thus the question: Assuming that the Roman Catholic Church continues to
exist in your Traveller universe, how is a Conclave to elect a new Pope
handled?

(For comparison, the Coptic Orthodox Church elects its Pope as follows:

  Within 7 days of the death of the previous Pope, a regent is appointed by
  the Holy Synod (the assembly of Coptic bishops) from within their number,
  usually one of the oldest members. The regent then appoints a committee
  of fourteen members of the Synod, which prepares a list of five or six
  candidates, each of whom must be at least 40 years old, never been
  married, and lived as a monk for at least fifteen years. This list is
  published in Egypt's three major Arabic-language newspapers, and three
  months later, a Grand Assembly, consisting of all 74 Coptic bishops plus
  12 representatives from each Coptic diocese (totalling 1000 electors)
  convenes to cast a ballot for the new Pope. The three candidates who
  receive the most votes have their names inscribed on cards that are
  placed in an urn, and one card is drawn from the urn by a blindfolded
  child; the name on the card so drawn identifies the new Coptic Pope.)

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referenced materials is not intended to
infringe or devalue the trademark.

--
Jeff Zeitlin, Editor
Freelance Traveller
    The Electronic Fan-Supported Traveller® Resource
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