Sede vacante (Italian, from the Latin sedis vacantia, “vacancy of the throne/office”), in relation to a high office, in general refers to the span of time during which that office is vacant, dating from the death, abdication, or dismissal of the incumbent to the successor’s installation. The term comes from canon law, where it refers particularly to the vacancy of an episcopal see and the papacy [4]. The macaronic German-Latin term Sedisvakanz began to be used in reference to the Holy Roman Empire in the 18th century.

The exercise of the office pending the new appointme…