Lucius & all:
Here are some more messages gathered from the internet on this mystery. In the first one, the author removed his remarks on this from a published article after being persuaded it was just sensationalism by over-eager journalists. But later he restored them when persuaded it was true.

One suspects the Vatican is playing possum with this tradition and denying it is practiced (as they did for awhle with the rite of exorcism), but it refuses to die out entirely, especially as it transitions from bad medicine to charming ritual?

Note that a (larger?) silver hammer was also used in the "Opening of the Door" ceremony, and then was replaced (by a gold one?)

Lucius' observations or reports that out in the provinces these rituals die hard (like the Latin mass?), as they do, or did, apparently, in New Hampshire, USA.

Here are the web discussions:

Charun- Demon of Death
... The last rites performed by Etruscan priests included tapping the forehead of the ...
of a pontiff, his forehead is tapped three times with a small silver hammer.
www.mysteriousetruscans.com/charun.html - 2k
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< Wikkipedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Pope

ex cathedra & Camerlengo

Wasn't it John XXIII and not Paul VI (as stated) who declared that he would never speak ex cathedra? Someone else 22:17 Sep 11, 2002 (UTC)

Yup. It was John XXIII. I've changed it. Also removed the following sentence:

The Camerlengo officially pronounces the pope dead by tapping his head three times with a special hammer and calling his name; if there is no response the death is announced.

Though always quoted, it never happens, or hasn't anyway for decades and decades. It is one of these ancient ceremonies long abolished which every journalist, when it comes to the time of the death of a pope, always quotes as fact except . . . its fiction. It may have happened sometime in the past, but no-one in the Vatican has any memory of it, any record of it, or any idea when it died out. They don't even know where the little 'silver hammer' is. The other part of this ceremony involved the relevant cardinal, as he tapped His Holiness on the forehead, saying, {name of pope} 'Art thou dead'? Apparently, every camerlingo (is that the correct spelling, BTW?) on appointment asks for this mythical silver hammer, and is disappointed to be told, 'Sorry, Cam. No such ceremony'. JTD 05:35 Feb 13, 2003 (UTC)

I just returned an hour or so ago from the "St. Peter and the Vatican: The Legacy of the Popes (http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/z-Patrons/MV_Patrons_03_03.html)" exhibit at the Cincinnati Museum Center, and one of the items on display was a small golden hammer, labeled as the Cardinal Chamberlain's hammer; the description specifically described the hammer's use to determine the Pope's death and to smash the Fisherman's Ring. As this exhibit is put together by the Vatican, I have therefore restored reference to the hammer ceremony to the text, with the caveat that it does not appear to have been practised any time recently (I believe the exhibit dates its last use to 1903 or so). Publius 22:03, 8 Jan 2004 (UTC)

Actually, the hammer was used in at least both with Paul VI and John Paul I. This was done after medical professionals had already determined that the pope had passed away. The hammer is usually kept by the Chamberlin. Also, a pair of shears is used to cut the ring.
JesseG 16:02, Oct 15, 2004 (UTC)

That surprises me. Could you give me a source? Gugganij 14:44, 17 Oct 2004 (UTC)

What about that special chair the story says candidates have to sit in, so the Cardinals can say "...habet et bene..."? PML.

The one to prove they have testicles and so aren't a woman in disguise? Myth too, I'm afraid. Though some old chair like that was found in the Lateran Palace once. But if it was done, it was back in the days when Martin Luther was in short pants!!! JTD
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Search

Smoke Signals: Electing a New Pope
... There are many elaborate rites and traditions involved ... painted the ceiling and Last
Judgement frescoes ... the pope the camerlengo takes a silver hammer and lightly ...
italian.about.com/library/weekly/aa050901a.htm - 33k


Italian Language
Smoke Signals: Electing a New Pope
Rite, Ritual, and Tradition
Join the Discussion
"There was a woman elected Pope! Nobody knew Papessa Giovanna was a woman till she gave birth during a procession. Since then all would-be popes have to sit in the 'Sedia Gestatoria'."
STERMICH

Secret ballots. Black and white smoke. Tapping the forehead of the dead pope with a hammer. There are many elaborate rites and traditions involved when electing a new pope, some dating from the Middle Ages, others as modern as sweeping the Vatican buildings for electronic listening devices.

Knock Three Times
When the Pope dies, the officials that were part of the papal administration no longer rule. The governing of the Vatican is taken over by the Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, or Chamberlain of the church. The camerlengo supervises all aspects of what goes on from the the death of the pope to the election of the next pope. His responsibilities include the papal funeral and preparations for the conclave.

The camerlengo's first duty is to perform a medieval ritual. At the deathbed of the pope the camerlengo takes a silver hammer and lightly taps on the pope's forehead three times, calling him by his Christian name. When there is no reply, he announces to those present that the pope is dead. The camerlengo also removes the Fisherman's Ring from the Pope's finger. At the first meeting of the Sacred College the ring and papal seals are broken.

the silver hammer will be put to ... man's hand and smash the ring
with the hammer. ... on the Christian family convened in Rome last fall, there ...
www.theatlantic.com/doc/200409/elie

[subsciption required to read article]

KeepMedia | The Atlantic: In Search of a Pope
... When John Paul dies, the silver hammer will be put to use ... the dead man's hand and
smash the ring with the hammer. ...
www.keepmedia.com/ShowItemDetails. do?itemID=586826&extID=10030 -
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> The Rite of the Holy Door:

The hammer

At Christmas 1499 the Pope used a hammer to strike three times the wall covering the Holy Door. Initially the hammer of the masons was used and the strikes were not entirely symbolic. Almost immediately however the hammer become a precious work of art. In 1525 it was made of gold and in 1575 it was of gilded silver with an ivory handle.
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Papal Transition: On papal conclave & election of the next pope by ...
... composition of the college after the last consistory in ... striking the forehead of
the pope with a silver hammer. ... cardinals arrange for the funeral rites for the ...
www.americamagazine.org/articles/papaltransition.cfm - 72k -

Papal Transition

Rev. Thomas J. Reese, S.J., editor in chief of America, the Catholic weekly magazine, and author of Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church (Harvard University Press, 1996), answers questions about the transition from one papacy to the next. This page will be updated as needed. Journalists with questions, suggestions or corrections, may contact Father Reese at americaeditor@americamagazine.org.

Updated Sept. 22, 2004.

* What happens when the pope dies?

When the pope dies, the prefect of the papal household (Bishop James Harvey) informs the camerlengo or chamberlain who must verify his death in the presence of the papal master of ceremonies, the cleric prelates of the Apostolic Camera, and the secretary of the Apostolic Camera who draws up a death certificate. As late as 1903, at the death of Leo XIII, this was done by striking the forehead of the pope with a silver hammer. It may also have been used on John XXIII.

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Ceremonial of the Jubilee

The most distinctive feature in the ceremonial of the Jubilee is the unwalling and the final walling up of the "holy door" in each of the four great basilicas which the pilgrims are required to visit. The doors are opened by the Pope at the beginning of the Jubilee and then sealed up again afterwards. Previously, the rite included the use of a silver hammer (for removing the concrete at the opening) and a silver trowel (for sealing it again after the Jubilee), however, in the Great Jubilee of 2000, Pope John Paul II simplified the rite considerably, opening and closing the doors with his hands.
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< Santificarnos
blog

And then this really, strange, tidbit from a Guardian article...

After the pope dies, an event confirmed when a senior member of staff strikes him on the forehead with a silver hammer and calls his baptismal name to make sure he is not just asleep, the cardinals will gather within a fortnight in the Vatican to deliberate in great secrecy on the choice of his successor.

A hammer? Why do I get the feeling that this is something from a Monty Python sketch? Is this true?
- posted by Robert @ Monday, September 29, 2003