Who will be the new Pope? Conclave process explained after death of Pope Francis
by Catherine Addison-Swan · ChronicleLiveThe secretive process of electing a new head of the Catholic Church will soon begin following the death of Pope Francis on Easter Monday.
The Vatican confirmed that the Pope died on the morning of April 21 following a lengthy battle with pneumonia, with tributes pouring in from around the world for the pontiff as mourners were quick to gather in St Peter's Square. Vatican City and Italy will now enter a period of national mourning, during which the Pope's funeral is expected to take place.
Two to three weeks after the Pope's funeral, the College of Cardinals will convene in the Sistine Chapel to hold a conclave, the ancient process of electing a new Pope.
The mysterious process is one that gained fresh fascination following last year's Oscar-nominated film Conclave, which portrayed a fictional version of the twists and tension involved in the election of a new Pope. It is one of the oldest methods of electing a head of state still in use today, and sees the electors proceed to the Sistine Chapel and take an oath of absolute secrecy before sealing the doors.
Here, we explain what happens during a conclave, the steps that must be taken to elect the new Pope, and when it is likely that the new head of the Catholic Church will be named.
Who can become Pope?
Cardinals are bishops and Vatican officials from all over the world, personally chosen by the Pope and recognisable by their distinctive red vestments. Only cardinals under the age of 80 are eligible to vote in a conclave – they are known as the cardinal electors, and their number is limited to 120.
In theory, any baptized male Roman Catholic is eligible for the papacy, but for the past 700 years, the new Pope has always been chosen from the College of Cardinals. Women are barred from the priesthood, and therefore from becoming Pope, in the Catholic Church – with the ban based on the belief that Jesus chose only men to be his apostles.
How is the new Pope voted in?
Four rounds of balloting are taken every day until a candidate receives two-thirds of the vote. If no-one receives the necessary two-thirds of the vote, the ballots are burned in a stove near the chapel with a mixture of chemicals to produce black smoke.
The process can go to multiple rounds with the same people theoretically getting the same number of votes each time as cardinals wait to see who loses support first. But slowly, cardinals who voted for someone who only received a very small number of votes are likely to add their vote to one of the stronger candidates in the next round.
When a cardinal receives the necessary two-thirds vote, the dean of the College of Cardinals asks him if he accepts his election. If he accepts, he chooses a papal name and is dressed in papal vestments before processing out to the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica.
The ballots of the final round are burned with chemicals producing white smoke to signal to the world the election of a new Pope. The senior cardinal deacon announces from the balcony of St Peter's "Habemus Papam" ("We have a Pope") before the new Pope proceeds out and imparts his blessing on the city of Rome and the world.
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