President Bush on Saturday called Pope John Paul II "a faithful servant of God and a champion of human dignity and freedom."
"He is an inspiration to us all," Bush said in his weekly radio address. "Laura and I join millions of Americans and so many around the world who are praying for the Holy Father."
http://www.catholic-pages.com/pope/election.asp
Popes are elected by the College of Cardinals meeting in Conclave when the Apostolic See falls vacant.
Pope Paul VI significantly changed the rules for conclaves in 1975 when he promulgated the Apostolic Constitution Romano Pontifico Eligendo. He excluded all cardinals 80 years old or over from the conclave and made provision to prevent any bugging of the Sistine Chapel.
It was according to these rules that Albano Luciano, Patriarch of Venice, was elected Pope John Paul I and that a little over a month later, Karol Wojtyla, Cardinal Archbishop of Krakow, was elected Pope John Paul II.
Pope John Paul himself promulgated a whole new set of rules in 1996 in the Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Gregis.
He has not departed radically from the traditional structure. But he has made some significant changes:
* if no cardinal has been elected by two-thirds majority after a certain number of ballots, the cardinals may agree by absolute majority (half + 1) to elect the Pope by an absolute majority instead of a two-thirds majority
* rather than stay in uncomfortable, makeshift quarters in the Papal Palace, the Cardinals will stay in the Domus Sanctae Marthae, hotel-style accommodation in Vatican City
* the only remaining method of electing the Pope is by scrutiny, ie, silent ballot -- the methods of election by acclamation and by committee have been excluded (but were rarely used)
* the older cardinals are still unable to enter the conclave, but they are invited to take an active role in the preparatory meetings
* the rules on secrecy are tougher
The maximum number of Cardinal Electors allowed at any one time is 120. The Pope cannot raise more than 120 men under 80 to the Cardinalate at any one time. (Of course, being Pope, he can also dispense himself with compliance with that rule! On the last two occasions, the Pope named new cardinals soon after the number of electors fell below 120. There were as high as 135 electors at some stages.) As at April 2005, there are 117 Cardinals eligible to vote in Conclave.