From voting to process of electing next pope, here's all you need to know

The Papal conclave 2025 to elect the next pope will be held on Wednesday May 7 The next pope is chosen by the cardinals through a voting systemThe cardinals are the senior members of the Church from around the world and only cardinals who are under the age of 80 can vote they are called cardinal electorsThe voting takes place in the Sistine Chapel at the VaticanAhead of the Papal conclave 2025 heres all you need to know about electing the successor of Pope FrancisDuring the conclave cardinals will gather in the Sistine Chapel to elect a successor to Pope Francis in a highly secretive process and it could take several days potentially longer according to the AFP During the conclave the Sistine Chapel is placed under total lockdown to have complete secrecy in the process There will be 133 cardinal electors in the process after two withdrew for health reasons Ahead of the conclave they will move into the Santa Marta guesthouse inside the Vatican where they will stay for the duration vowing not to communicate with the outside world record proceedings or reveal its secrets The cardinal electors will on Wednesday take part in a morning mass in St Peters Basilica at the Vatican Each wearing their scarlet cassock white rochet scarlet mozetta short cape pectoral cross with red and gold cord and ring the cardinals then gather in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace at 415pm 1415 GMT and invoke the assistance of the Holy Spirit to make their choice as per the AFP They would the proceed to the Sistine Chapel at around 430 pm where the election will be held The cardinal electors take an oath promising that if elected they will conduct the role faithfully and again vowing secrecy The master of ceremonies gives the order extra omnes everybody out and all those not permitted to vote leave the Sistine Chapel The masters of ceremonies will distribute ballots to the cardinal electors Lots are drawn to select three to serve as scrutineers three infirmarii to collect the votes of cardinals who fall ill and three revisers who check the ballot counting by the scrutineers Cardinals are given rectangular ballots inscribed at the top with the words Eligo in Summum Pontificem I elect as supreme pontiff and a blank space underneath The electors write down the name of their choice for the next pope preferably in handwriting which cannot be identified as their own and fold the ballot paper twice Each cardinal takes turns to walk to the altar carrying his vote in the air so that it can be clearly seen and says aloud the following oath 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 according to the AFP They place their folded paper on a plate which is used to tip the ballots into a silver urn on the altar in front of scrutineers The electors then bow and return to their seats Those cardinals unable to walk to the altar hand their vote to a scrutineer who drops it in the urn for them Once all ballots are collected scrutineers shake the urn to mix the votes up transfer them into a second container to check there are the same number of ballots as electors and begin counting them Two scrutineers note down the names while a third reads them aloud piercing the ballots with a needle through the word Eligo and stringing them together The revisers then doublecheck that the scrutineers have not made any mistakes If no one has secured twothirds of the votes there is no winner and the electors move straight on to a second round There are two pairs of votes per day morning and afternoon until a new pope has been elected The ballots and any handwritten notes made by the cardinals are then destroyed burnt in a stove in the chapel which emits black smoke if no pope has been elected and white smoke if the Catholic world has a new pontiff The smoke is turned black or white through the addition of chemicals If voting continues for three days without a winner there is a day of prayer reflection and dialogue If after another seven ballots there is no winner there is another day of pause If the cardinals reach a fourth pause with no result they can agree to vote only on the two most popular candidates with the winner requiring a clear majority When a cardinal is elected pope the masters of ceremonies and other nonelectors are brought back into the Sistine Chapel and the cardinal dean asks the winner Do you accept your canonical election as Supreme Pontiff As soon as he gives his consent he becomes pope according to an AFP reportwith AFP inputsatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params