The Vatican—With the death of Pope Francis on April 21, 2025, the Catholic Church has entered an era of change, one that has not been observed in over 12 years. The Catholic Church is participating in a Conclave.
Dating back to January of 1276 CE, the Papal Conclave is an almost millennial-old tradition in which the Catholic Church appoints the Pope, the leader of the Catholic Church. There have currently been 266 Popes, dating back to the first Pope of the Catholic Church, Saint Peter, who became Pope before the Conclave existed in 30 BCE. The 267th Pope will be elected on May 7th, 2025. However, it is important to understand that the Conclave is not a traditional election.
The Papal Election is the oldest way of electing a head of state and has seen its fair share of adaptations. But the modern system still has some similarities to the first-ever Papal Conclave. This is how the modern system works, broken down into steps:
Step 1: The Arrival of the College of Cardinals
Unlike other elections, the Pope is not chosen by a popular vote of the followers of the Catholic Church but is instead chosen by the College of Cardinals, advisors to the sitting Pope who are typically Catholic Bishops who were tapped by a Pope. Currently, there are 252 Cardinals, 135 can vote/participate in the Conclave (as only Cardinals under 80 years old can vote in the Conclave and potentially be elected as the new Pope). It’s also important to note that this is likely to be the largest and most diverse conclave in history.
The College of Cardinals are summoned to the Vatican for the Conclave and sworn to secrecy. Throughout the entirety of the Conclave, they will only interact with one another, only leaving the Sistine Chapel to sleep in a guest house, the House of Saint Martha.
Step 2: The Vote
After nine Cardinals are selected at random to oversee the vote and verify the ballots after collection, the Cardinals begin to write their preferred candidate on a ballot (their candidate can be any baptized Catholic male, however, only six non-Cardinals have ever been elected). Once all the ballots have been submitted, the nine Cardinals count the votes, announce the count, and announce if a candidate has met the 2/3rds majority needed to become the Pope. If no candidate has achieved the majority, the ballots are burned, causing black smoke to rise out of a chimney outside of the Sistine Chapel, the only update that followers of the Conclave get.
Cardinals will vote four times a day, two times in the morning and two times in the afternoon/evening. This process repeats every day until a majority is met.
Step 3: The New Pope
Once a new Pope is elected, he is called forward and asked if he wants to take on the role of being the Pope. If he accepts, he chooses his Pope name and heads to the “Room of Tears” in the Sistine Chapel.
The “Room of Tears,” as it has been nicknamed, is the place where the new Pope can have time to himself to feel emotional over the weight of his new role. Afterwards, he will don his new Papal attire, watch as the Cardinals pledge their allegiance to him, and steps out onto a stage outside the Vatican. As he steps out, the Senior Cardinal will announce, “Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum: Habemus Papam,” which translates from Latin to: “I announce to you great joy: We have a Pope!” Then, it is time for the Pope to begin to define his legacy and the future of the Catholic Church.