Cardinal electors to start centuries-old ritual to pick new pope later on Wednesday
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As the Vatican prepares to elect a successor to Pope Francis, cardinals from around the world are set to begin the secretive, centuries-old ritual of the conclave.
The 133 cardinals from 70 countries will be sequestered from the outside world, their mobile phones surrendered and cell connection around the Vatican jammed to prevent them from all communications until they choose a new leader for the 1.4 billion-strong Catholic Church.
Pope Francis named 108 of them, choosing many pastors in his image from countries like Mongolia, Sweden and Tonga that had never had a cardinal before.
The stage is set to open the most geographically diverse conclave in the faith's 2,000-year history.
The Sistine Chapel where cardinals will gather to elect the new pope, 6 May, 2025
AP Photo/Francisco Seco
The late pope's decision to surpass the usual limit of 120 cardinal electors and include younger ones from the global south — often marginalised countries with lower economic clout — has injected an unusual degree of uncertainty into a process that is always full of mystery and suspense.
Many hadn't met one another until last week and lamented they needed more time to get to know one another, raising questions about how long it might take for one man to secure the two-thirds majority, or 89 ballots, necessary to become the 267th pope.
A final Mass, then 'all out'
The process of the conclave starts at 10:00 CET with a Mass in St Peter's Basilica. The dean of the College of Cardinals, Giovanni Battista Re, presides over the Mass, which is meant to be a prayer for cardinals to find the wisdom, counsel and understanding to elect a worthy new shepherd.
At 4:30 pm the cardinals will walk solemnly into the Sistine Chapel, chanting the meditative "Litany of the Saints" and the Latin hymn "Veni Creator," imploring the saints and the Holy Spirit to help them pick a pope.
Once there, they pledge to maintain secrecy about what is about to transpire and to not allow "any interference, opposition or any other form of intervention" from outsiders to influence their voting.
Black smoke emerges from the chimney on the Sistine Chapel as cardinals voted on the second day of the conclave to elect a pope in St. Peter's Square, 13 March, 2013.
AP Photo
After that, the retired preacher of the papal household, Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, delivers a meditation. The master of papal liturgical ceremonies, Archbishop Diego Ravelli, calls out "Extra omnes," Latin for "all out."
Anyone not eligible to vote then leaves and the chapel doors close, allowing the work to begin.
The first vote is expected by Wednesday evening. Assuming no winner is found, the Vatican said black smoke could be expected out of the Sistine Chapel chimney at around 7pm.
The casting of the ballots
The voting process follows a strict procedure, dictated by church law.
Each cardinal writes his choice on a paper inscribed with the words "Eligo in summen pontificem" — "I elect as Supreme Pontiff."
They approach the altar one by one and say: "I call as my witness, Christ the Lord who will be my judge, that my vote is given to the one who, before God, I think should be elected."
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After tipping the folded ballots into an oval silver and gold urn, the ballots are opened one by one by three different "scrutineers," cardinals selected at random who write down the names and read them aloud.
As the scrutineer reads out each name, he pierces each ballot with a needle through the word "Eligo" and binds them with thread and ties a knot. The ballots are then put aside and burned in the chapel stove along with a chemical to produce either black smoke to signal no winner, or white smoke to announce that a new pope has been elected.
Papal vestments of three different sizes hang in the Room of the Tears, where the new pope dresses before appearing on the balcony, at the Vatican, Tuesday, May 6, 2025.
Vatican Media via AP
From Thursday, up to two ballots can be held in the morning and two in the afternoon until a winner is found.
While cardinals this week said they expected a short conclave, it will likely take at least a few rounds of voting.
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For the past century, it has taken between three and eight ballots to find a pope. John Paul I — the pope who reigned for 33 days in 1978 — was elected on the third ballot. His successor, John Paul II, needed eight. Francis was elected on the fifth in 2013.
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Euronews
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"I don't think Putin sees the Vatican as having the necessary neutrality," Ferrara told Euronews. "This scepticism existed even under Pope Francis and is rooted in the long-standing coolness between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church." That tension has deep historical roots, stretching back to the Great Schism of 1054, when Christianity split into the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. In August 2024, the Ukrainian parliament passed a bill banning activities of religious organisations connected to Russia and those that have administrative centres there. The legislation specifically targets the activities of the Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), which is legally subordinate to the Russian Orthodox Church, the leading church in Russia and a close ally of the Kremlin, fully supporting Moscow's war in Ukraine. All UOC-MP communities were given nine months to fully break ties with the Russian church. 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2 days ago
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Merz says Kyiv's key allies no longer limit range of weapons
Merz, who took office early this month, also vowed that "we will do everything in our power to continue supporting Ukraine, including militarily", in close coordination with other supporters. "There are no longer any range restrictions on weapons delivered to Ukraine -- neither by the British nor by the French nor by us nor by the Americans," he said. "This means that Ukraine can now defend itself, for example, by attacking military positions in Russia... With very few exceptions, it didn't do that until recently. It can now do that." The previous German government of centre-left chancellor Olaf Scholz strongly backed Kyiv but shied away from sending it long-range Taurus missiles, worried that this might escalate tensions with the nuclear power. Merz has in the past said he favours delivery of Taurus, which could strike targets deep inside Russia. His government has since stressed it would no longer detail what arms it is sending to Ukraine, preferring a stance of strategic ambiguity. Speaking in a lengthy interview with public broadcaster WDR, Merz did not say whether Germany would now send Taurus missiles to Kyiv. The recently appointed chancellor however took the opportunity to slam Russian President Vladimir Putin's reluctance to engage in talks to end the sighting in Ukraine. The Kremlin chief has responded to diplomatic efforts to bring the conflict to a close by prosecuting the war "harder than before", Merz told WDR. "Putin obviously sees offers of talks as a sign of weakness," Merz said. Since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House this year, he has sought to push the two sides in the conflict toward direct talks at the highest level. Trump last week suggested the Vatican as a possible host for a meeting, with the Italian government saying the leader of the Catholic Church was ready to organise talks. But Moscow has cast doubt on the potential for the Holy See as a host. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it would be "inelegant" for the Catholic Church to mediate discussions between two principally Orthodox Christian countries. Merz said that Ukraine's Western backers had sought to use all the diplomatic options available to them to initiate talks. "After the last three weeks, no one can seriously accuse us of not having exhausted all available diplomatic means," Merz said. Short of "raising the white flag", Ukraine's supporters had "done everything" they could. "If even an offer to meet at the Vatican does not get (Putin's) approval, then we must be prepared for this war to last longer than we all wish or can imagine." © 2025 AFP
