Catholic cardinals will begin meeting May 7 to choose the next pope — disguising their handwriting while jotting down their choice on tiny pieces of paper during the highly secretive voting process in the Sistine Chapel.
The more than 130 cardinals set to pick a new pontiff have begun informal meetings ahead of the conclave, a gathering held behind closed doors in the sacred space — which is scanned for electronic bugging devices before voting takes place each day.
The church leaders will participate in near-total silence, even obscuring their penmanship on their secret ballots to ensure votes remain strictly confidential. Each ballot is folded to just an inch wide before being placed in a lidded silver and bronze urn and then mixed to ensure total anonymity.
Italian cardinal Giovanni Battista Re (L) officiates near the coffin of late Pope Francis. AFP via Getty ImagesA two-thirds majority is required before a successor to Pope Francis can be named. Francis died of a stroke and heart failure April 21 after a lengthy battle with pneumonia that saw the pontiff hospitalized for more than a month.
The table is set for the largest papal conclave in history to be steeped in division between conservative and reform-minded factions, with the direction of the church hanging in the balance.
Those on the conservative side will likely coalesce around candidates who would return the church to doctrines espoused by St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. While others will look to continue the social justice-minded reforms undertaken under Pope Francis.
British Cardinal Vincent Nichols, 79, the archbishop of Westminster, sought to soften the notion that electors were divided and said unity was their mandate.
Cardinals Dieudonné Nzapalainga, left, and Timothy M. Dolan arrive for the Congregation of Cardinals. AP“The role of the pope is to essentially hold us together and that’s the grace we’ve been given from God,” said Nichols, according to The Associated Press.
Cardinal Anthony Poola, the 61-year-old archbishop of Hyderabad and one of four eligible electors from India, told reporters he felt his fellow electors would be united but admitted that “anything could happen” as the conclave gets under way.
“Anyone who is coming up must be the successor of St. Peter, and we all hope that he will be a good pope,” he said.
Cardinals from around the world will convene in Rome for the conclave, 108 of whom were appointed by Pope Francis – and 20 of those appointed just in December.
The Congregation of Cardinals gather for the fifth time in the New Hall of the Synod after Pope Francis’ death. APAlthough 135 electors are eligible, it was not immediately known how many will participate when the voting starts. One cardinal from Spain has already said he will not be taking part because of health reasons.
Before the voting takes place, three electors are designated “scrutineers,” who are responsible for drawing and counting the ballots, according to Religion News Service. Three other cardinals, called infirmarii, will take ballots from any cardinal who is unable to attend in person because of illness.
Only cardinals under 80 years old are allowed to vote at a conclave. The electors are free to elect any male as pope, provided he is baptized and ordained as a priest and bishop, or willing to be, the outlet writes.
No non-cardinal has been elected pope in more than 600 years.
Also at issue during the upcoming conclave is whether Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu will be allowed to vote. Becciu, 76, was convicted by a Vatican tribunal of judges for embezzlement and fraud in 2020 and ordered by Francis to resign the “rights and privileges” of his position.
St Peter’s Basilica is seen in the background as a cardinal arrives for a college of cardinals’ meeting, at the Vatican on Monday, April 28. APHis conviction – for which he was sentenced to five and a half years in jail – is currently under appeal, and Becciu, once a powerful figure in the church, maintains his innocence and has insisted on his right to cast a ballot.
Conclaves typically conclude within a few days – though the longest in modern history took 51 days in 1831. Venezuelan Cardinal Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo said he believed the electors would render their decision “between two and three days” this time around.
On the first day of voting, the cardinals will meet to vote between 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. No discussion or advocacy for a particular candidate will be held within the Sistine Chapel, only outside after voting has concluded for the day.
On day two, the cardinals meet for a Mass at 8:15 a.m. in the Pauline Chapel, then a mid-morning prayer at 9:30 a.m. before returning to the Sistine Chapel. If no winner emerges, they take a break at 12:30 p.m. and return to vote again starting at 4:50 p.m. until about 7:30 p.m.
When the votes are tallied, if no cardinal reaches the two-thirds majority threshold, the ballots are burned with an additive that sends black smoke through the chapel chimney, signaling to the world that no decision has been made.
Once a pope is elected, the ballots are burned with a different combination of chemicals producing white smoke.
If no consensus is reached after three days, the electors can pause the voting process for a maximum of one day to engage in additional discussion and prayer.
