Cardinals begin secret conclave voting process inside Sistine Chapel to elect Pope Francis's successor

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Cardinals to select new pope in most diverse conclave ever

The cardinals just finished singing a profound Latin hymn, Veni Creator, alongside a choir in the Sistine Chapel.

Following this is a moment of silent prayer. Then, a collective oath among the cardinals. Each cardinal also takes their own individual oath on the gospel, Perlich explains.

You can see each of the 133 cardinals approaching the gospel and placing his hand on it while taking the oath.

“This will happen again and again in the procedure,” Perlich says.

As Reuters explains, after the cardinals have pronounced their oath, Archbishop Diego Ravelli, the Vatican's master of ceremonies, will pronounce the Latin command: "Extra omnes!" (All out!), telling all those not involved in the gathering to leave.

The cardinals, still chanting, are starting to stand at their places behind long tables.

Each cardinal is given a conclave rule book, notebook, blotter and pens, Perlich explains. At the end of conclave, all the notes are burned.

The procession of the 133 cardinals is still continuing.

Prayers have started, signalling the beginning of the procession into the Sistine Chapel. The cardinals are singing The Litany of the Saints as they walk, a prayer to ask for help in the conclave process.

You can see the seriousness and solemnness on the faces of the cardinals as they enter the chapel.

Officially, as long as it takes.

The first ballot is expected to be cast this evening (early afternoon ET), according to the Vatican News, If the smoke is black, the cardinals will retire for the evening and get back to voting tomorrow, with the four ballots per day.

For the past century, it has taken between three and eight ballots to find a pope. Pope Francis, for instance, was elected on the fifth ballot in 2013.

But the longest conclave? That took nearly three years. We have to go back to the 13th century, but the conclave to choose Pope Clement IV's successor took 1,006 days.

The citizens of Viterbo, north of Rome (where that conclave took place) were so frustrated by the process that they actually locked the cardinals in the room.

Which is how we got the name conclave, which again, means “locked room.”

We can expect this conclave to move along more quickly. It’s been almost 200 years since conclave took longer than a week.

Hi, I'm Verity, and I'll be curating your live updates today as we follow the conclave — the secretive process by which the Roman Catholic Church elects a new pope.

Here's a little bit about how the conclave works: 133 cardinal electors from around the world are gathering in the Vatican this year. Typically, the number of electors is capped at 120 and this year is the largest number of electors in history.

Only cardinals under the age of 80 are eligible to vote. When the voting process begins, they each write a name on a paper ballot and place it in a chalice at the altar of the Sistine Chapel. Their ballots are secret.

To be elected, a cardinal must receive two-thirds of the votes — or 89 ballots. Ballots are burned, resulting in the famous smoke. Black smoke means no new pope yet. White smoke means a pope has been elected. The cardinals vote in up to four rounds every day until one name reaches the two-thirds threshold.

Once, and if, the elected cardinal accepts, he must choose a papal name. Then, he changes out of his red garments into white papal robes and is presented to the world on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, with the announcement: Habemus papam — We have a pope.

Cardinals to select new pope in most diverse conclave ever

Good morning,

Why don’t we start with some basics and what we can expect to happen:

Conclave is the gathering of cardinals to elect a new pope. The papal conclave voting is intentionally shrouded in secrecy — the term itself is Latin for "locked room."

The conclave's first day begins with a special mass, a procession of voting-age cardinals into the Sistine Chapel (which will happen at 10:30 a.m. ET), an oath to keep the upcoming proceedings a secret, and then the doors are sealed.

After that, there’s no real timeline to pick a new pope, although cardinals have said they expect this conclave to be short.

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 at around 1 p.m. ET.

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