BRANDYWINE HUNDRED – White smoke blew in front of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church on the afternoon of May 6. The “cardinals” who attend the parish elementary school had spoken. In fact, the conclave in Vatican City scheduled to start the next day may as well have been canceled.
“Habemus papam!” Father John Solomon announced from the altar. Translated from Latin, that means, “We have a pope!”
Father Solomon continued to read in Latin, announcing the winner of the conclave at IHM in which the students and other members of the school community chose retired Father William Melnick to be the new pontiff. Father Melnick, who chose his baptismal name, William, walked out waving to the faithful, who showered him with applause and adulation.
Wearing papal white with a zucchetto, the small, brimless cap, Father Melnick absorbed the applause.
“You make my life young and keep me alive,” he told the students.
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Father Solomon, the pastor of Immaculate Heart, said he stole the idea to hold a conclave at school from Father Joseph McQuaide, who did something similar at Holy Cross School in Dover when Pope Francis was elected.
“The vote was very clear. I can’t say what the vote was; it’s all a secret. But, it was pretty overwhelming,” he said.
For his part, Father Solomon was not upset at not being the voters’ choice.
“I was very happy with who won,” he said. “I think they made the right choice. We need some wisdom and some experience, and it was very exciting.”
The students, for their part, bought in. They had a choice of Father Solomon, Father Melnick, or seminarian James Kimmel, who is stationed at the north Wilmington parish. They cast their ballots in the cafeteria on May 5 and 6, and a panel of three officials certified the results. Two-thirds of the ballots were necessary to be cast for the election to be valid.
Kimmel waved the incense outside the church as the students processed from school, and Father Solomon made the announcement. “Pope William” had a few words for the young voters in the pews.
“We look to (the pope) for peace and grace,” he said. “We look to him for direction.”
The Holy Father, he said, represents St. Peter and the apostles. He asked the students to pray for the cardinal-electors who are gathering at the Vatican for the conclave.
“Hopefully, by the end of the week we will have a new Holy Father,” he said.
He reminded the students, who each wore a red biretta made out of construction paper, that their vote was to remain secret. Afterward, he said the exercise was not only fun, but a good way to teach them about the transition in the Catholic Church.
Father Solomon said he was a college seminarian when St. Pope John Paul II died in 2005, the only pope he had ever known. He didn’t know much about the process of selecting a new pontiff, which he called “fascinating.” Along with the practical matters of making the birettas and filling out ballots, there is the spiritual side.
“I thought this would be a way for them to learn about the process and how it works, and, of course, also to pray for the cardinals. It’s hard to make any choice in life, but this is a massive one. They really do need our prayers,” he said.
“The kids have been very good about that.”
He noted that not only has there never been a pope named William, no pope has used his baptismal name since Pope Marcellus II in 1555.
Father Melnick also received a miter, and a life-sized cardboard cutout was set up in the church lobby. He said when he became a priest that pope certainly was not in his future. The mock vote led to a humorous exchange with some cousins, who began calling him “the bishop” when he was in seminary.
“It didn’t work out, but they still call me ‘the bishop,’ Father Melnick said. “So, I texted them today, and I told them I’m no longer able to be called ‘bishop.’ I’m Pope William the First. And they all wrote me back laughing, hollering and screaming.”
With that, the pontiff headed off to the car line to greet his flock as his electors found their rides home.
