After the end of the Conclave, the protodiacon cardinal will announce in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican, the traditional “Habemus Papam” (from Latin, which means “we have a pope” in Portuguese).
The expression is part of the text read to announce the election of the new Pope and the name chosen by the new maximum leader of the Catholic Church.
Cardinal Protodiácono – whose main function is, in the context of conclave, to make this announcement – is the oldest cardinal of the order of deacons, those responsible for assisting “and serve God” assisting bishops and priests.
And where would the “habemus papam” have emerged?
There is no consensus on the origin of the expression “Habemus Papam”.
However, according to some historians, the phrase would have begun to be used after the so -called “west schism”, a moment of religious crisis in the Catholic Church, which began in 1378 in the fourteenth century, and lasted until the year 1417, in the fifteenth century.
At that moment in history, the church had more than one pope at the same time. “After the solution found to resolve this issue, tradition would have arisen,” explains historian and theologian Gerson Leite de Moraes.
The election universally, that is, with consensus of Pope Martin V, elected in 1417, marks the end of this period of crisis in the Catholic Church.
“That’s when the famous announcement would have happened. That is, we have a single Pope, we have a Pope,” says Moraes, who is also a professor at Mackenzie Presbyterian University.
“There are different versions of the origin between historians, but in general this: a way of announcing that this is the true Pope,” adds Filipe Domingues, who specializes in Vatican and PhD in Social Sciences from the Pontifical Gregorian University, based in Rome, and current director of the Lay Center Catholic Institute of Rome – a university residence.
The announcement of “Habemus Papam” begins by speaking of joy for a new Pope.
“This recalls an expression that appears in the gospel of Luke, when an angel says ‘no fear, behold, I announce to you a good nova that will be joy to all the people’, announcing the birth of Jesus Christ,” says Gerson de Moraes.
“When the oldest cardinal, the protodiácon, announces a new Pope in Latin, he uses a similar expression. This is where symbolism comes. ‘I announce a great joy. We have a Pope.’ In Latin, ‘Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum: Habemus papam’,” concludes the historian and theologian.
This content was originally published in know the origin of the expression Habemus Papam, said when Pope is chosen on CNN Brazil.
Source: CNN Brasil
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