When will the conclave start and how will they elect the new pope?
A group of 133 cardinals – the so-called 'Princes of the Church' – will gather inside the Sistine Chapel at the heart of the Vatican to pick a successor to Pope Francis, who died last month of a stroke and heart failure at the age of 88.
What is a conclave?
When will the conclave begin?
How many cardinals are there?
How is the new pope elected?
Who could be elected next pope?
When will the new pope be declared?
What is a conclave?
The conclave is the arcane process of choosing the next pope. Cardinals from around the world will gather beneath the frescoed ceilings of the Sistine Chapel in the heart of the Vatican, where they will vote for Pope Francis's successor by secret ballot.
The chapel will have been swept for bugs and other recording devices and cardinals will be banned from using laptops or mobile phones.
For the last conclave in 2013, which followed the historic resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, an oath of secrecy was taken by members of the Swiss Guard and Vatican gendarmerie, the city state's police force, as well as the doctors and nurses who assisted elderly or infirm cardinals.
A Vatican master of ceremonies will pronounce the words 'Extra omnes' (Everyone out), ordering staff and aides to leave the chapel so that only the cardinal electors remain.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Ukrainian man arrested in Italy over Nord Stream pipeline attacks
BERLIN/MILAN, Aug 21 (Reuters) - A Ukrainian man was arrested at a holiday bungalow in Italy on suspicion of coordinating attacks on three Nord Stream gas pipelines in 2022, officials said on Thursday, a breakthrough in an episode that sharpened tensions between Russia and the West. Described by both Moscow and the West as an act of sabotage, the explosions largely severed Russian gas supplies to Europe, prompting a major escalation in the Ukraine conflict and squeezing energy supplies on the continent. No one has taken responsibility for the blasts and Ukraine has denied any role. The arrest comes just as Kyiv is engaged in fraught diplomatic discussions with the United States over how to end thewar in Ukraine without giving away major concessions and swathes of its own territory to Russia. "Politically we are firmly on Ukraine's side and will continue to be so," said Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig when asked if the arrest would affect Berlin's ties to Kyiv. "What is important for me is that Germany is a country of law, and crimes in our jurisdiction are fully investigated." The suspect, identified only as Serhii K. under German privacy laws, was part of a group of people who planted devices on the pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea, a statement from the prosecutor's office said. He and his accomplices had set off from Rostock on Germany's northeastern coast in a sailing yacht to carry out the attack, it said. The vessel had been rented from a German company with the help of forged identity documents via middlemen, it added. Authorities acted on a European arrest warrant for the suspect, who faces charges of collusion to cause an explosion, anti-constitutional sabotage and destruction of important structures. An official in the Ukrainian president's office said he could not comment as it was not clear who had been arrested. The official reiterated Ukraine's denial of any role in the blasts. Successive Ukrainian governments have seen the pipelines as a symbol of, and vehicle for, Russia's hold over European energy supplies that Kyiv argued made it hard to act against Moscow ever since Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. The Wall Street Journal reported that the suspect was a retired captain in Ukraine's armed forces and previously served in Ukraine's security service SBU, as well as in an elite unit that defended Kyiv in the early months of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. The officer purportedly headed a team of two soldiers and four civilian divers covertly recruited by a special Ukrainian military unit to lay explosives that damaged the undersea pipelines, the WSJ said, citing investigators. German prosecutors declined to comment on the WSJ report. Carabinieri officers arrested the suspect overnight in San Clemente on Italy's Adriatic coast, where he was supposed to spend a few days with his family. "Once his presence had been verified, the Carabinieri surrounded the bungalow and launched a raid, during which the man surrendered without resistance," a statement by the Carabinieri said, adding the suspect was 49 years old. A police official told Reuters the suspect was arrested because, when providing documents at a hotel check-in, an alert flagging he was wanted popped up at the police headquarters, which dispatched a Carabinieri police patrol. In September 2022, one of the two lines of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline was damaged by mysterious blasts, along with both lines of Nord Stream 1 that carried Russian gas to Europe. Moscow, without providing evidence, blamed Western sabotage for the blasts, which cut off most Russian gas supplies to the lucrative European market. The U.S. denied having anything to do with the attacks. The Washington Post and Germany's Der Spiegel magazine have previously said the team that carried out the attack was put together by a former Ukrainian intelligence officer, who denied involvement. In January 2023, Germany raided a ship that it said may have been used to transport explosives and told the United Nations it believed trained divers could have attached devices to the pipelines at about 70 to 80 metres deep. The boat, leased in Germany via a Poland-registered company, contained traces of octogen, the same explosive that was found at the underwater blast sites, according to the investigations by Germany, Denmark and Sweden. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 triggered Europe's deadliest conflict in 80 years, in which analysts say more than 1 million people have been killed or injured.
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Ukrainian held in Italy over Nord Stream gas pipelines blast mystery
Danish Defence handout German prosecutors say a Ukrainian man has been arrested in Italy on suspicion of blowing up the Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea, several months after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The man, identified only as Serhii K, was arrested in the province of Rimini and was part of a group who planted explosives under the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines from Russia to Germany, federal prosecutors say. The blasts severed a key source of natural gas for Europe when leaders were facing an energy crisis triggered by Russia's war. No-one admitted carrying out the attack, and Ukraine has denied involvement. The Ukrainian, who was detained by Italy's carabinieri military police stationed in the northern coastal resort of Misano Adriatico, is suspected of being one of the masterminds of the operation. Prosecutors said he was part of a team that had chartered a yacht and sailed from the German port of Rostock to an area of the Baltic near the Danish island of Bornholm. Although Nord Stream 2 never went into operation, Nord Stream 1's two pipelines had provided a steady supply 1,200km (745 miles) under the Baltic from the Russian coast to north-eastern Germany. Shortly before Russia's invasion, Germany had cancelled its process to approve Nord Stream 2, which was 100% owned by Russian gas giant Gazprom. Months later, Russia shut down Nord Stream 1. Then, on 26 September 2022, several explosions were recorded that ruptured three of the four pipelines. Mystery surrounded the identity of the saboteurs, with Russia coming under Western suspicion and Moscow blaming the US and UK. Last year German reports suggested a team of Ukrainian divers had hired a yacht and sailed out into the Baltic to attack the pipelines. German prosecutors issued a warrant for the arrest of a diver named Volodymyr Z last August. They said on Thursday that the suspect held in Rimini would be brought before an investigating judge after he was extradited from Italy. The prosecutors said the man was "strongly suspected of jointly causing an explosion and of sabotage undermining the constitution". There is no evidence so far linking Ukraine, Russia or any other state to the attacks. German arrest warrant over Nord Stream blast mystery A journey to the site of the Nord Stream explosions War in Ukraine Germany Ukraine Natural gas
Times
5 hours ago
- Times
Ukrainian arrested in Italy over Nord Stream pipeline bombings
A Ukrainian citizen has been arrested in Italy on suspicion of helping to orchestrate the underwater bombing of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines running from Russia to Germany. The suspect, identified only as Serhii K, is the first person known to have been detained in connection with the attack, which German prosecutors believe was carried out by a small group of Ukrainians operating from a rented yacht. The Nord Stream explosions, which took place at three locations on the bed of the Baltic sea in September 2022, were among the most momentous acts of sabotage carried out in Europe in recent years. The blasts ripped open three of the four strands of the pipelines, which were a symbol of Germany and central Europe's dependence on Russian energy. They resulted in the biggest single methane leak on record.
