THE CLOUDED ELECTION OF JOHN XXIII part 3

From “Vatican II Exposed as Counterfeit Catholicism” by Frs. Francisco and Dominic Radecki, CMRI

VOTING BEGINS

Cardinal Roncalli told Venetians to stop mourning the death of Pope Pius XII. “Come on now. When a Pope is dead they make another one.” His letter to the Bishop of Bergamo written during the conclave gives a premonition of future events:

My soul finds comfort in the confidence that a new Pentecost can blow through the Church, renewing its head, leading to a new ordering of the ecclesiastical body.

When the voting began, the cardinals knelt before the altar to place their ballot in a silver chalice and said, “I call Christ the Lord as Witness, Who is to judge me, that I choose him who I think ought to be chosen by God.” Cardinal Roncalli at the age of 77 was elected on the eleventh ballot on October 28, 1958.

Since all the cardinals who attended the conclave are dead and did not publicly disclose the mysterious events that occurred, it is impossible to know precisely how this happened. Many facts cannot be known with absolute certainty because ballots are immediately burned and everything in the election of a pope is done with absolute secrecy. Cardinals and their assistants are required by oath not to reveal the voting results to anyone. However, some information has leaked out because a few of the attendees divulged various details.

Because he trusted Bishop Sheen, “John XXIII told him the inside story of his selection as Pope and swore him to secrecy.” Alden Hatch in “A Man Named John,” wrote:

The secrets of the conclave have been well kept, perhaps due to the stern insistence of Pope John XXIII. All that is definitely known are the unimportant details, which in the jargon of generals are ‘unclassified.’

Subsequently, many theories circulated due to suspicious events surrounding the conclave. Of the 51 cardinal electors, it is believed that there were 25 Traditionalists, 17 Modernists and 9 neutrals. If these numbers are correct, even if all the neutral cardinals joined the larger group of Traditionalists, it would not be enough votes because 35 were required to elect a new pope. It is presumed that at first neither side could get the necessary votes.