The Conclave: How the new Pope is elected

[MarieT]

Conclave to elect new Pope set to start on May 7

Cardinals will begin their secret conclave to elect the new leader of the Catholic Church on May 7, the Vatican has announced. Some 135 cardinal electors, all under the age of 80 and from all over the world, are eligible to take part in the vote for Pope Francis ' successor. The conclave date was decided Monday during a closed-door meeting of cardinals at the Vatican, the first since Francis' funeral on Saturday.

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edited to add source link

[MarieT]

the list of 135 cardinals (134 one will not make the trip), who will vote for the next pope
can be found here Conclave Cardinals

late addendum,
there will be 135 cardinals after all

Initially, Vinko Puljić announced he would not be able to attend the conclave for health reasons,[126] but upon receiving clearance from his physician, he now plans to participate

[MarieT]

out of the 134,
only 26 have been elected cardinals by Popes John Paul II and Benedict
the other 108 cardinals were elected by Bergoglio

[MarieT]

British Cardinal Vincent Nichols acknowledged that the 135 cardinal electors - 108 of whom were appointed by Francis - don't know each other very well. The last 20 were appointed in early December. 'We've got all week,' Nichols, the 79-year-old archbishop of Westminster, said. Arborelius also said: 'We don't know each other.' Francis made a priority of appointing the red-hatted 'Princes of the Church' from countries that had never had them, such as Myanmar, Haiti, Rwanda and Arborelius' own Sweden.

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[MarieT]

Note the following Cardinals in attendance at the Conclave

Cardinal Burke aged 77
Cardinal Sarah aged 79 (gosh he looks much younger)
Cardinal Muller aged 77


phew they just got in - age 80 cut off

[Denise]

Looks like the deck is stacked. But God never loses.

[Johnna]

Looks like the deck is stacked. But God never loses.

Amen to that!

[MarieT]

Conclave live: First vote to decide the next Pope set to take place today

Cardinals from around the world have descended on Rome for the secretive conclave to decide the next pope.

Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle are among the favourites to succeed Pope Francis ahead of the Papal Conclave, which begins on Wednesday.

The ritual begins with a mass in St Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday morning, and later in the afternoon, the 133 cardinal electors will walk to the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel while chanting the litany of the saints.

Once there, the cardinals will take a vow of secrecy, and stand before Michealangelo’s famous vision of heaven and hell to swear to carry out the solemn duty of selecting a new leader of the Catholic Church.

Then, the work of debating and voting on who among them could lead will begin.

The conclave comes after the funeral of Pope Francis, who made liberal changes to the Catholic Church during his 12-year papacy.

Pope Francis also increased the diversity of cardinals, who will now elect his successor. The question is whether they will choose someone to carry on Pope Francis’s legacy, or opt for a more traditional figure.

Key Points
Frontrunners emerge in line for papacy
How the day will unfold
How will the conclave work?
Vatican to cut phone signal during conclave to elect new pope
Conclave officials, cleaners and cooks take oath of secrecy
In pictures: Mass at St Peter's Basilica to mark beginning of conclave

The 133 cardinal electors have attended a final mass at St Peter’s Basilica before entering the conclave this afternoon.




The Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re presides over the Holy Mass celebrated for the election of the new pope (REUTERS)


A large congregation gathered for the mass (EPA)

When will voting to select a new pope begin?
09:11
This is the key question, but there is no definitive answer.

The cardinals don't have to take a first vote on Wednesday, but they usually do.

Assuming no winner is found, the Vatican said black smoke could be expected out of the Sistine Chapel chimney around 7pm.

If there is a new pope elected (unlikely within the first hours of debate) white smoke will appear after 5.30pm.

source

[MarieT]

Update on the Conclave:

Black smoke pours from Sistine Chapel chimney as second and third pope ballots unsuccessful

Black smoke has again poured from Sistine Chapel chimney tonight, indicating no pope has been elected
after the second and third ballots.
The smoke signal came just before midday local time (8pm AEST).

Cardinals entered the Sistine Chapel again this morning for more rounds of votes after their first secretive meeting failed to select a new Pope to lead the Catholic Church.

The group of 133 cardinals did not reach a decision in the first vote of the conclave after the process, which is shrouded in secrecy and ceremony, took longer than expected. And black smoke emerged again shortly before 11am today, meaning the second round of voting had also been unsuccessful.

The black smoke had also emerged at around 8pm on Wednesday, some four hours after the cardinals solemnly entered the Sistine Chapel, took their oaths of secrecy and formally opened the centuries-old ritual to elect a successor to Pope Francis to lead the 1.4 billion-member church.

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[Denise]

took their oaths of secrecy

I wonder what would be so secret.