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Selecting a pontiff
The election of a pope is a centuries-old process that was last updated in 2007 by Pope Benedict. Since 1271, the church’s highest-ranking clerics, the cardinals, have voted in a conclave which was instituted as the result of the longest papal vacancy in history — two years and nine months.
The voting process
Voting results
The new pope
The College of Cardinals
Who can be pope?
The voting process
Voting in the Sistine Chapel takes place once on the first day of the conclave. If a pope isn’t chosen at that time, voting then occurs twice during each subsequent morning and evening.
Voting results
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• Chooses the name by which he will be known. |
• Goes to a small red room near the chapel. He dresses in the papal vestments, white skull cap and soutane, which have been prepared in various sizes. |
• Proceeds to the main balcony of the Vatican, where the senior cardinal deacon declares, “Habemus papam!” (We have a pope). Pope delivers his first papal blessing. |
The College of Cardinals
Only cardinals under the age of 80 may vote for a new pope. More than half of the 117 eligible cardinals were appointed by Pope Benedict. The rest were appointed by Pope John Paul II.
