First, I’d like to express my absolute horror at your blatant disregard of a long-standing TML tradition of flamewars. That being said, I wholly approve of and will honor your request. In an area as large as the Imperium I would assume that the list of secession is updated on a periodical basis with the votes being cast in advance, sort of like weighted choice balloting. The really is no other way that I, as a bear of small brain, can think of that would allow maximum input. The alternative would be to have “regional” popes and I don’t recall that working out too well in real life. Best regards, Chuck > On Nov 30, 2025, at 14:18, Jeff Zeitlin - editor at freelancetraveller.com <xxxxxx@simplelists.com> wrote: > > 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.) > > > ®Traveller is a registered trademark of > Mongoose Publishing, 1977-2025. Use of > the trademark in this notice and in the > referenced materials is not intended to > infringe or devalue the trademark. > > -- > Jeff Zeitlin, Editor > Freelance Traveller > The Electronic Fan-Supported Traveller® Resource > xxxxxx@freelancetraveller.com > http://www.freelancetraveller.com > > Freelance Traveller extends its thanks to the following > enterprises for hosting services: > > onCloud/CyberWeb Enterprises (http://www.oncloud.io) > ----- > The Traveller Mailing List > Archives at http://archives.simplelists.com/tml > Report problems to xxxxxx@simplelists.com > To unsubscribe from this list please go to > https://lists.simplelists.com/subs/
