The Conclave – what happens?

Vatican firefighters on May 2, 2025, install on the Sistine Chapel roof the iconic chimney that will signal the outcome of voting during the May 7 conclave to elect Pope Francis’ successor. | Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

By Philip A. Janquart

ICR Assistant Editor

The death of Pope Francis has triggered the highly anticipated Conclave, the process by which a new pope is elected.

The task of electing the new pope falls upon the members of the College of Cardinals, of which those younger than 80 at the time of the pope’s death are eligible to vote. Of the 250 cardinals worldwide, only 132 will cast ballots for the successor to Pope Francis.

The conclave typically occurs fifteen to twenty days after the pope’s death. The funeral, burial and a period of mourning happen first. Nine days of mourning, called the "Novendiales,” begin with the Pope’s funeral Mass.

When the Conclave begins, voting cardinals must swear to absolute secrecy both during and after the Conclave process, and great care is taken to ensure the Sistine Chapel is free of listening devices. When they leave the chapel for meals and sleep, cardinals are not permitted to share any of the proceedings with the public.

Cardinals celebrate the sixth Novendiales Mass for Pope Francis on May 1, 2025, in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. | Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Inside the locked chapel, the cardinals will cast ballots once during the first afternoon session, and then twice each morning and afternoon at subsequent sessions until a candidate receives a two-thirds majority.

The ballot papers all bear the words “Eligo in summum pontificem” (“I elect as supreme pontiff”), followed by a space for a cardinal’s name. During the vote, cardinals individually approach Michelangelo’s painting of the Last Judgment and drop their ballot into a large urn.

After each round of voting, the ballots are burned, and the smoke rises above St. Peter’s Square from a chimney over the Sistine Chapel. Ballots are burned with a chemical that produces black smoke when no cardinal has been elected pope. White smoke rises from the Sistine Chapel when a pope has been elected, and the bells of St. Peter’s will also ring, confirming the momentous news.

The newly elected pope is led to the “Room of Tears,” where he will dress himself in the white papal robes for the first time. From the logia (balcony) overlooking St. Peter’s, the Dean of the College of Cardinals will announce “Habemus Papam!” (We have a pope!), after which the new pope will appear in public for the first time. The pope will greet the people gathered in St. Peter’s Square and offer a papal blessing.

Cardinals participate in the fifth Novendiales Mass for Pope Francis on April 30, 2025, in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. | Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA