Behind the Vatican’s medieval walls, 133 cardinals gathered for Mass on Wednesday morning in preparation for the start of a conclave to elect a successor to Pope Francis.
Conclave start time: At 4:30 p.m. local time the cardinals will walk solemnly into the frescoed Sistine Chapel, chanting the meditative “Litany of the Saints” and the Latin hymn “Veni Creator.” After the cardinals take their oaths, a senior cardinal delivers a meditation, but the conclave won’t officially begin until the master of papal liturgical ceremonies calls out “Extra omnes,” Latin for “all out” and the doors are closed.
How the pope is elected:
The College of Cardinals, composed of 133 voting eligible cardinals, will be sequestered inside the Vatican to pray, discern and vote for the next pope without distraction. They will host their first and only vote of the day this evening in the Sistine Chapel. A two-thirds majority is required for a new pope to be elected. Voting sessions on subsequent days, should they be needed, will occur regularly in the morning and afternoon until a pope is selected.
Smoke watch: After voting, ballots are burned in a special stove — black smoke signals no decision, while white smoke means a new pope has been chosen. Smoke is expected to rise from the Vatican chimney around 7 p.m.
Cardinals contenders: There are no official candidates for the papacy, but some cardinals are considered “papabile,” or possessing the characteristics necessary to become pope. Some names include Pietro Parolin, who will oversee the conclave, Luis Tagle, dubbed the “Asian Francis,” Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, a conservative cardinal native to the Congo, and Pierbattista Pizzaballa, potentially the first Italian pope in decades.
