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''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 ablative absolute of ''sedes vacans'' "vacant seat", or the Italian for the same term), the seat in question being the ''cathedra'' of the particular church. ==Vacancy of the Holy See== After the death or resignation of a pope, the Holy See enters a period of ''sede vacante''. In this case the particular church is the Diocese of Rome and the "vacant seat" 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'', (and therefore of the Catholic Church) falls to the College of Cardinals, but in a very limited capacity. At the same time, all the heads of the Roman Curia "cease to exercise" 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 postal administration of the Vatican City State prepares and issues special postage stamps for use during this particular period, known as "''sede vacante'' stamps". 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. As further indication, the Camerlengo ornaments his arms with this symbol during this period, which he subsequently removes once a pope is elected. Previously during this period the arms of the Camerlengo appeared on commemorative Vatican lira coinage. It now makes its appearance on Vatican euro coins, which are legal tender in all Eurozone states. 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 culminates in the papal conclave to elect a successor. Once a new pope has been elected (and ordained bishop if necessary) the ''sedes'' is no longer vacant, so this period then officially ends. Afterward occurs the Papal inauguration (formerly in the form of a papal coronation), and the formal taking possession of the ''cathedra'' of the Saint John Lateran. 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. After twenty days have elapsed, they must hold the conclave, even if some cardinals are missing. The period from the death of the Pope to the start of the conclave was often shorter but, after Cardinal William Henry O'Connell had arrived just too late for two conclaves in a row, Pius XI extended the time limit. With the next conclave in 1939, cardinals began to travel by air. Days before his resignation in February 2013, Benedict XVI amended the rules to allow the cardinals to commence conclave sooner, if all voting cardinals are present. Historically, ''sede vacante'' periods have often been quite lengthy, lasting many months, or even years, due to lengthy deadlocked conclaves. The most recent period of ''sede vacante'' of the Holy See began on 28 February 2013, after the resignation of Benedict XVI at 19:00 UTC on 28 February 2013 and ended on 13 March 2013 with the election of Pope Francis, a period of 13 days. The longest period without a Pope in the last 250 years was the approximately half year from the death in prison of Pius VI in 1799 and the election of Pius VII in Venice in 1800. ===List of extended ''sede vacante'' periods in the Holy See from earliest times=== Whilst conclaves and papal elections are generally completed in good time, there have been several periods when the papal chair has been vacant for months or even years. Such an extensive period of time without a Pope is described as an interregnum. The following is a table of ''sede vacante'' periods in excess of a year:- 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sede vacante」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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