Универси Доминики Грегис: Апостольская конституция о выборах Папы Римского.

1996 apostolic constitution of Pope John Paul II
the Mariological papal bull

Universi Dominici gregis is an apostolic constitution of the Catholic Church issued by Pope John Paul II on 22 February 1996. It superseded Pope Paul VI's 1975 apostolic constitution, Romano Pontifici eligendo, and all previous apostolic constitutions and orders on the subject of the election of the pope.

Strict secrecy is to be ensured throughout the process. Anyone violating the security of the Vatican, introducing recording equipment, or communicating with a cardinal elector in any way, risks excommunication. Other penalties are at the discretion of the incoming Pope. Participants are required to take oaths of secrecy.

Previously, in addition to secret ballot two other methods were allowed for the conduct of the election. A committee of nine to fifteen unanimously chosen cardinals might have been delegated, to make the choice for all (election by compromise, per compromissum). Alternatively, formal ballots could be discarded: in election by acclamation (per acclamationem seu inspirationem) the electors simultaneously shouted out the name of their preferred candidate. Both of these methods have now been abolished: the rationale given was that either compromise or acclamation would not require each cardinal to express his preference. Also, these two methods tended to produce controversy, and in any case neither had been used for quite some time—the last compromise election was of Pope John XXII in 1316, and the last affirmation (acclamation) election was of Innocent XI in 1676. As a result, election by secret ballot is now the only valid method of electing a Pope.

Universi Dominici gregis provided that Cardinals would be housed in Domus Sanctae Marthae, a building with dormitory type accommodation built within the Vatican City. Previously Cardinals were housed in improvised accommodations which were often noted for not being particularly comfortable.

New voting procedures allowed for the election of a pope by a simple majority in certain circumstances. For the first time in centuries cardinals were to be housed in apartments separate from the Sistine Chapel. The method by which a pope symbolically took office was made less specific. Whereas Pope Paul's Romano Pontifici Eligendo spoke of a coronation, the new apostolic constitution referred to the "inauguration of the pontificate" without choosing between an enthronement ceremony, a papal coronation or the papal inauguration used since 1978. The document anticipated the possibility of a papal resignation when specifying that the procedures it prescribes should be observed "even if the vacancy of the Apostolic See should occur as a result of the resignation of the Supreme Pontiff".(para. 77)

The only papal election held under these rules without amendment was that of 2005 that chose John Paul's successor Benedict XVI. On 11 June 2007, Pope Benedict XVI reinstated the requirement that a papal election require a two thirds majority regardless of the number of ballots taken. After Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation, on 25 February 2013, he issued another decree, Normas nonnullas, which allowed the College of Cardinals to bring forward the start of a conclave once all cardinals are present or delay the start a few days if serious reasons justify the change in scheduling. He also amended the rules to declare automatic excommunication of any non cardinal who broke the oath of secrecy of the College of Cardinals during the proceedings. Previously any such person was subject to punishment at the discretion of the new pope. The new rules were first applied in the 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis.