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Handout #102

Reforming Decrees

The election of the pope: decree of 1059 (Nicholas II)

Instructed by the authority of our predecessors and other holy fathers, we have decided and established that after the death of a pope of the universal church of Rome, first of all the cardinal bishops shall together, and with the most careful attention, seek out the most worthy person, and then present him to the cardinal clergy; finally, the rest of the clergy and the people shall come forward to support the new election.

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