Sede Vacante

Sede vacante is an expression, used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, that refers to the vacancy of the episcopal see of a particular church. It is Latin for "the seat being vacant", the seat in question being the cathedra of the particular church.

After the death or resignation of a pope the Holy See becomes sede vacante. In this case the particular church is the Diocese of Rome and the Sede Vacante is the cathedra of Saint John Lateran, the cathedral church of the bishop of Rome. During this period, the Holy See is administered by a regency of the College of Cardinals.

According to Universi Dominici Gregis, the government of the Holy See Sede Vacante falls to the College of Cardinals, but in a very limited capacity. At the same time, all of the heads of the Roman Curia resign their offices. The exceptions are the Cardinal Camerlengo, who is charged with managing the property of the Holy See, and the Major Penitentiary, who continues to exercise his normal role. If either has to do something which normally requires the assent of the Pope, he has to submit it to the College of Cardinals. Papal Legates continue to exercise their diplomatic roles overseas, and both the Vicar General of Rome and the Vicar General for the Vatican City State continue to exercise their pastoral role during this period. 

The Coat of Arms of the Holy See also changes during this period. Instead of the Papal Tiara over the keys, the tiara is replaced with the Umbraculum or Ombrellino in Italian. This symbolizes both the lack of a Pope and also the governance of the Camerlengo over the temporalities of the Holy See. 

The interregnum is usually highlighted by the funeral Mass of the deceased pope, the general congregations of the College of Cardinals for determining the particulars of the election, and finally culminated in the Papal Conclave to elect a successor. Once a new pope has been elected Sede Vacante officially ends. 

Cardinals present in Rome are required to wait at least fifteen days after the start of the vacancy for the rest of the college before they can hold the conclave to elect the new Pope. However, after twenty days have elapsed, they must hold the conclave even if Cardinals are missing. 

Before his resignation, in the Apostolic Letter Normas Nonnullas, Papa Benedictus (XVI)  Sextus Decimus amended the rules to allow the Cardinals to commence the conclave sooner if all Cardinals are present. 

Historically, Sede Vacante periods have often been quite lengthy, lasting many months, or even years due to lengthy deadlocked conclaves. I have included the longer periods of Sede Vacante in the list of Popes in this blog.