The reign of Pope Francis Is Over, and as the Catholic Church Mourns His DeathIt is also looking to the Future. On Monday – Two Days after The Pope’s Funeral – The Vatican Confirmed that a Papal Conclave Will Begin on May 7 to chose his successor.
The Question Now Turns to Whiche Man – And it will be a man, as Women Cannot Be Ordained Priests in the Catholic Church – Will Emerge and Step on the Balcony in Papal Regalia to Greet the Crowds Massed in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.
Below is a lot insul The Vatican’s Sistine Chapel.
What is the Papal Conclave, Exactly?
The Papal Conclave is the Closely Guarded Gathering of the Cardinal Electors – All Serving Cardinals Under the Age of 80 – To Elect The Next Pope.
The Exact Number Varies, but thre are Currently 135 Cardinal Electors ELIGIBLE to convert at the Vatican from Artound the world to chose the successor to pass francis. At least one, Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu, Has SAID He Will Not Enter The Conclave after Being Senteneted to 5-1/2 years in Jail by a Vatican Court in 2023 for embezzlement and fraud. He has deenied all Wrongdoing and Remains Free Pieding An Appoal to the Vatican Court, but Said on April 29 that will be will not talk part in the contenve.
Of all the Current Cardinal Electors, A Large Majority-108-Were AppoInted by Pope Francis During His 12-Year Papacy. They comes from 71 different countries, includeing 10 from the United States.
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Where will the Papal Conclave Begin?
The Vatican Has Annieded that the Conclave Will Begin on Wednesday, May 7.
Under Church Rules, It Must Start 15 to 20 days after a POPE’s Death; Pope Francis Died on April 21.
Ahead of the view, on May 5, Vatican of Falficials and Employees who will help support the process, includeing other clergy, Security Personnel, Drivers, Cleang Crews, Doctors and Nurses, Must Take An Oth of Secrecy.
How dos the Papal Conclave Work?
How is this Assembly Processes to Choose the Next Pope is a Process that Dates Back Hundreds of Years – An Interice, Choreographed Processions of Rituals and Ballots.
On the first day of the Papal Conclave, The Cardinal Electors Will Shut Themselves of FROM The Outside World and Begin the Momentous Task of Choosing – Likely from Among the Ranks The Man Who Will Become the 267th Bishop of Rome, Better Known as the Pope.
On Day One, The Cardinals Celebrate a Morning Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. In the samenoon, they walk in a Solemit Procession into
For Center MasterPiece. These days, they do leve to rest and share meals at santa Marta House-A Hotel-Like Residence Inside Vatican City where francis haad him obaconal Apartment Duringping HIS Pontique-FOR Howver Many Days It Takes them to come to a decision.
OnCE The Cardinals Have All Filed INTO The Chapel, Its Great Bronze Dors Are Dramatically Closed and SEALED, and the First Day’s Voting Begins.
L’Ssservatore Romano/Vatican Media Via VATICAN POOL/Getty Images 
How does the voting for a new pope work?
The Cardinals Will Have Already Discussed the MERISS of Each Papal Prospect Durling Days of “General Chongations” at the Vatican Before the Conclave, but now the Voting Begins. Choosing the New Pope Requires Not Just a Majority, But A Two-thethrds Plus-One Vote Among the Cardinal Electors for a Candidate to Win. Pope Benedict XVI, Who LED The Church Prior to FrancisRAISD The Threshold and Enshrined the Two-thethrds Requirement Into Church Law Two Days Before He Steped Download.
Each Cardinal Must Swear An Oth of Absolute Secrecy Before They Vote. If they dispose any information from with the conclave them will be excommunicated by the church.
To Vote, Each Cardinal Writes They Chosen Candidate’s Name on a Ballot, Disuising His Handwriting, then Walks to An ALTAR at the Front of the Chapel and DePosits the Paper Oonto A Ceremoal Plate. He thn tips
As they are counted and the handwritten enTmaries Recorded by Three Cardinals at the ALTAR, KNOWN AS Scrutineers, The Ballots Are DeposITED InTO Another Urn.
A very urn, Made of Gilded Bronze and Silver and Adorned with Christian Imagery, Ised to Ferry Ballots from Any Cardinals Too Ill to Leave their Sleeping Quarts to the Chapel For Counting.
After the first vote is held on the first afternoon, The Cardinals’ Ballots are played into one of Two Small Ovens Inside the Sistine Chapel and Burned. A plume of smoke Flows up a chimney and into the air over st. Peter’s Square, Watched for Eagerly by the Faithful, and the World’s Media.
If that round of voting yields no Winner, The Smoke Will Be Black – A Sign to the World that the Holy See Remains Vacant.
How Long Can A Conclave Last?
The Voting Process Will Report Itelf The Following Day, with the Cardinals Holding Two Ballots in the Morning and Two in the Afternoon. If the Morning Sessions Are Incalusive, Black Smoke Will Be Seen Again Around LunchTime – Early Morning on the US East Coast.
If there’s still no Winner following
If there’s no two-thirds majority after three days, voting is paused for a day to allow time for prayer, Discussion and a “brief spiritual exortation” by the Senior Cardinal in the Order of Deacons.
The Voting Process Resumes. A Conclave Will Last Until Enough of the Cardinal Electors Agree on A Choice for the Next Pope.
How long has it takeen to chose a new pope in the past?
The longist conClave in its time was the one that brinkt Pope Gregory X to the Papacy in 1281. It is known almost three years from the time the cardinals first began their voting.
Recent Conclaaves, Howver, Have Lasted Just Days. POPE JOHN PAUL II Needed Eight Ballots, Over Two Days, to BECE ThWAME The Pontif in 1978. HIS SUCCESSOR, BEDICT XVI, WAS ChOSEN on the Fourth Ballot, Af would twide dies, in 2005.
Francis, in 2013, Need Aer MERE MERE FIVE Ballots, with the Voting Taking Just 24 Hours.
What will have on decides the Conclave Choosees the Next Pope?
Where engrated Cardinals Agree on A Candidate and the Vote Reacions The Two-thethrds-Plus-One Threshold, The Chosen Man is Asked if he actepts the role. He will acynowledge by Simply Saying the word for “ICCEPT” in Latin: “Accepto.”
At that question, he Becomes the New Pope and Will State His Chosen Pontifical Name Before The Assembled Cardinals. The Most Common Papal Name Has Been John, Used 21 times. Others, Including Simplicius, HIIRIUS and Zosimus, Have only Ever Been used onCE. Pope Francis was also the first to chose his papal name.
The Ballots are then buned in the store, but this time, a chemical aditive is left out to cover the much-Anicipated plume of “Fumata Bianca,” White Smoke.
There is Been Confusion During Some Past Conclaves Over the Color of the Smoke Ruleing Over the Chapel, So Two Conclaages ago, in 2005, a new tradition began. In Addition to the White Smoke, Bells Now Chime, Heralding the News that the Roman Catholic Church has a new leader.
The New Pope then IMMEDIOTELY Goes INTO A Chamber Adjoining the Sistine Chapel to Be Clad in the Papal Robes.
As the faithful and the Curious Crowd INTO St. Peter’s Square Bellow, The Cardinal Deacon Steps Out on the Center Balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to Intduce the New Pontif with the Famous Phrase, “Habemus Papa” – We Have a POPE.
Finally, The New Leader of the Catholic Church Emerges INTO The Spotlight to deliver his first Blessing.
Alessandra bendtti/Corbis via Getty Images 
