Conclave live: Catholic cardinals locked in Sistine Chapel for first round of voting as conclave officially begins

Hamilton Spectator

07-05-2025

Catholic cardinals from around the world will sequester themselves within the Sistine Chapel beginning Wednesday to start the secretive process of selecting
Pope Francis's
successor.
Watch live as cardinals choose the new pope. Candidates need a two-thirds majority, or 89 votes. If no one secures that Wednesday, the cardinals will retire for the day and return on Thursday. They will have two ballots in the morning and then two in the afternoon, until a winner is found.
While all eyes will be on the Sistine Chapel chimney to see if black or white smoke emerges, viewers watching live streams of the smoke stack have taken a special interest in a seagull sitting on the roof nearby.
The bird has been in live video shots for hours, along with a chick that also entered the video frame.
One user on X noted that she, just like the seagull,
was also 'seated,'
waiting for results of the papal election.
Those hoping to witness the election of the next pope from St. Peter's Square must first pass through security checks.
As the conclave began, lines were forming at metal detectors at the square's entrances. Once a new pope is elected, he'll appear on the balcony above the square to be introduced to the world.
For now, the checks remain relatively quick, but wait times are expected to grow once the white smoke appears. Italy's Civil Protection agency estimates that up to 250,000 people could flood the square and Via della Conciliazione, the wide boulevard that leads from the Vatican to the Tiber River, to welcome the new pontiff.
Crowds were filling St. Peter's Square as cardinals prepared to elect the next pope.
People from all faiths are captivated by the ancient ritual playing out. But the sense of meaning is obviously most profound for Catholic believers.
Father Ignacio Palacios, a professor and priest in the diocese of Toledo, Spain, took part in a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica ahead of the conclave and observed others taking photos with cardinals — especially with those seen as having the best chances to emerge from the conclave as pope.
He described a 'a strong sense of expectation.'
'It's nice to feel this strong sense of faith and belonging,' he said. 'We are aware of the fact that we are witnessing a historic moment.'
Cardinals electing the next pope begin processing into the Sistine Chapel to open the conclave
As they processed into the chapel adorned with Michelangelo's 'The Last Judgement,' the 133 cardinals chanted the meditative 'Litany of the Saints.' A line of Swiss Guards stood at attention.
The hymn implores the saints to help the cardinals find a new leader of the 1.4 billion-strong Catholic Church.
A group of women lit pink smoke flares on a hill behind the Vatican on Wednesday in protest against the male-dominated Catholic church just hours before 133 men gather in the Sistine Chapel to choose the next pope.
'While the world may be waiting for white or black smoke, our pink smoke is a signal that women should be included in every aspect of the life of the Church,' said Kate McElwee, executive cirector of Women's Ordination Conference, adding, 'A woman's place is in the conclave.'
The women said they have been arrested in the past when they have brought their protests closer to St. Peter's Square so they were holding their pink smoke event on the Ganicolo Hill behind the Vatican with the cupola on St. Peter's Basilica visible in the distance.
At 4:30 p.m. (1430 GMT; 10:30 a.m. EDT), the cardinals will walk 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's about to transpire and to not allow any interference from outsiders to influence their voting.
Standing before Michelangelo's vision of heaven and hell in 'The Last Judgment,' each cardinal places his hand on the Gospel and swears to carry out that duty. The awesomeness of the chapel's frescoes, and Michelangelo's in particular, is meant to remind the cardinals of the weighty responsibility they bear.
After the cardinals take their oaths, a senior cardinal 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.
VATICAN CITY—A change in popes — through death or resignation — is a complicated process, with centuries-old rituals involving the transition in leadership for both the spiritual head of the global Catholic Church and the Vatican's head of state.
These are the need-to-know terms — some of them in Latin — to help make sense of news in the coming days:
There are 252 cardinals worldwide, and as a body, they are in charge of the Holy See's affairs between popes, albeit with limits. Of them, 135 are 'cardinal electors,' who gather in the Vatican to choose the new pope. Only 133 are participating in this conclave because two are sick. For centuries, they have chosen one of their own. The vast majority of the electors — 108 — were made cardinals by Pope Francis, according to Vatican statistics.
This is the closed-door meeting of the cardinal electors to choose the new pope in the Sistine Chapel. Its name, literally 'with a key,' was used in the 13th century to describe the process of locking up the cardinals until the election is completed. It must begin no more than 20 days after the death or resignation of a pope. The electors are sequestered from all outsiders for the duration. The last three popes were chosen within days.
Read more from the Associated Press on everything from the Domus Santa Marta to the revisers.
They don't have a vote in the pope's election, but nearly 900 superiors of the world's female Catholic orders met in Rome on Monday to chart a course forward, a few miles from where cardinals will gather in a conclave to choose a successor to Pope Francis.
Sister Mary Barron, president of the umbrella group of leaders of women's religious orders, urged the superiors and the over 650,000 nuns worldwide to pray that the cardinals make the right choice and reflect on how to carry forward Francis′ vision.
'We must be vigilant in doing our part to keep that flame of church renewal alive,' she told the assembly of sisters — some in regular clothes, others in traditional habits.
Read the full story from the Associated Press
The first clue of the next pope's direction will be the name the winner chooses.
The announcement 'Habemus Papam' — 'We have a pope' — from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica is followed first by the revelation of the new pontiff's baptismal name, in Latin, followed by his papal name, wrought with meaning.
A Pope Francis II would signify continuity with the late pontiff's pastoral legacy and his prioritizing of the marginalized. Francis himself quipped that his successor would be John XXIV, after the progressive Vatican II-era pope. The most popular papal name of the 20th century, Pius, would be a clear signal that a traditionalist is taking back the throne of St. Peter.
Read the full story from the Associated Press.
On the morning that Pope Francis's passing was announced to the world, Irene Deschênes received a text message from a fellow survivor of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church.
'She said, 'The pope died. Take care of yourself,'' Deschênes, the president of Outrage Canada, an advocacy group for survivors of church abuse, recounted in a telephone interview from her home near London, Ont.
'This is probably a trigger for a lot of survivors, but there are triggers every day.'
Advocates for sexual-abuse survivors see the conclave as both a risk and a window of opportunity to push for change within the church.
Read the full analysis from Allan Woods.
The Oscar-winning Vatican thriller 'Conclave' became a box-office smash when it was released last October, but in the wake of Pope Francis's death its audience has expanded even further.
The film, which depicts the process of choosing a new pope after one has died, received a big bump in streaming numbers after the 88-year-old pope died on April 21 following complications from a stroke.
With so many people learning about the process by watching the fictional 'Conclave,' how accurate is it? Experts say the film gets some things right and other things wrong.
'They tried to reproduce the mise en scene of the Vatican accurately,' Bill Cavanaugh, professor of Catholic Studies at Chicago's DePaul University, wrote in an email to the Star. But, he added, the film depicts a lot of political conversations between cardinals, which is 'exaggerated ... for dramatic effect.'
Read the full story from Marisa Coulton.
A morning Mass in St. Peter's Basilica has concluded, allowing the cardinals who will elect the next pope to return to their residences for a few hours ahead of the conclave.
Later in the afternoon, the Vatican has said that all communications around the Holy See will be jammed as they prepare to withdraw from the outside world for their secret and sacred task ahead.
The cardinals are likely to cast their first vote later on Wednesday. Assuming no one is elected, black smoke would be expected out of the Sistine Chapel chimney at around 7 p.m. local time.
The Vatican's Swiss Guards and Italian carabinieri and police have been mobilized as Rome and the wider world hold their breath to see who will emerge from the conclave as the next pontiff.
As of Wednesday morning, when cardinals attended a special pre-conclave Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, police were carrying out enhanced checks of people entering St. Peter's Square.
Over 4,000 officers have been deployed, with an anti-drone system and signal jammers to block communication between the cardinals and the outside world once they enter into their secret assembly.
'The safety of the cardinals is a priority, but so is that of the faithful outside,' said Fabio Ciciliano, head Italy's Civil Protection agency.
Read more from the Associated Press here.
A morning Mass in St. Peter's Basilica has concluded, allowing the cardinals who will elect the next pope to return to their residences for a few hours ahead of the conclave.
Later in the afternoon, the Vatican has said that all communications around the Holy See will be jammed as they prepare to withdraw from the outside world for their secret and sacred task ahead.
Read more from the Associated Press here.
On an ordinary day at the Vatican, it's common to hear the brrring of a telefonino and priests digging their devices out from the folds of their cassocks.
These are extraordinary days, though. Cardinals — arriving together by bus from Casa Santa Marta, a modest guesthouse on the grounds (Pope Francis chose to live there during his papacy rather than the ornate Apostolic Palace) — will be stripped of their cellphones before entering the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday to begin the arcane ritualistic process of electing a 267th pope.
No communication devices. No contact with the outside world. Complete isolation in their sequestered assembly, under Michelangelo's majestic fresco of the Last Judgment. Cum clave — under lock and key. A total digital blackout in this era.
But in the 21st century, the challenge of maintaining secrecy amidst unprecedented technology and providing security for the participants is immense.
Read the full column from Rosie DiManno.
There is no rule that cardinals electing a new pope vote a certain way according to their nationality or region. But understanding their makeup in geographic terms can help explain some of their priorities as they open the conclave Wednesday to choose a new leader of the 1.4-billion strong Catholic Church.
Vatican workers have installed the simple stove in the Sistine Chapel where ballots will be burned during the upcoming conclave to elect a new pope. The Holy See released footage Saturday of the preparations for the May 7 conclave, which include installing the stove and a false floor in the frescoed Sistine Chapel to make it even. (AP Video / May 3, 2025)
A cardinal who heads the Vatican's liturgy office might have a very different set of concerns from the archbishop of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. A cardinal who runs a large European archdiocese with hundreds of priests likely has other priorities than the Vatican ambassador ministering to war-torn Syria or the archbishop of Managua, Nicaragua, whose church has been under siege by the government.
There are currently 135 cardinals who are under age 80 and eligible to vote in the conclave, hailing from 71 different countries in the most geographically diverse conclave in history. Already two have formally told the Holy See that they cannot attend for health reasons, bringing the number of men who will enter the Sistine Chapel down to 133.
Read the full story from the Associated Press
Only cardinals under 80 are allowed to vote. That means 135 of the total 252 cardinals will be eligible, although two have confirmed their absence for health reasons. Church regulations allow a maximum 120 electors, although popes have exceeded that ceiling before.
The cardinal electors must reach a two-thirds majority to elect a new pope. On the first day of the ballot, cardinals will take a single vote.
The Catholic Church's cardinals are meeting next week at the Vatican to elect the new pope in a centuries-old process called conclave. Recent conclaves took a few days, but the longest-ever in history was nearly three years long. (AP Video/Isaia Montelione / May 2, 2025)
If no winner is chosen, the electors will return to the Sistine Chapel the following morning. In the following days, there can be up to two votes each morning and two each afternoon until a pope is chosen.
Read the full story from the Star's Kevin Jiang.
The conclave is a centuries-old tradition that will see more than 100 cardinals from around the globe congregate in Vatican City to select the next bishop of Rome and leader of the world's more-than 1.4 billion Catholics.
It must take place 15 days to a maximum 20 days after the pope vacates his position, according to an apostolic constitution.
The first day will start with a special mass at St. Peter's Basilica by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re. In the afternoon, the cardinal electors will process into the Sistine Chapel, where the voting will take place.
There, a priest will deliver a meditation and the cardinals will take an oath. The master of liturgical ceremonies will then utter the Latin words 'Extra Omnes' — meaning 'all out' — asking all those present save for the voting cardinals to leave the building.
From then on, the cardinals will have no contact with the outside world until the next pope is chosen — meaning no cellphones, newspapers, TVs, messages, letters or signals.