Cardinals have handed in their mobile phones and taken oaths of secrecy as they begin the secret Conclave to decide the next Pope.
The Papal Conclave began with a mass in St Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday morning, with senior cardinal Giovanni Battista Re praying for the cardinals to be enlightened to choose “the Pope our time needs”.
Soon, standing before Michelangelo’s famous vision of heaven and hell in the Sistine Chapel the 133 cardinals will swear to carry out the solemn duty of selecting a new leader of the Catholic Church.
Then, the work of debating and voting on who among them could lead will begin.
Signal jamming devices are in place, as are thousands of police and Swiss Guards, to protect the cardinals and the secrecy of their deliberations.
White smoke from the Sistine Chapel chimney later on Wednesday will signal the cardinals have already found a successor for Pope Francis, who made liberal changes to the Catholic Church during his 12-year papacy.
Black smoke means no decision has been reached, and the Conclave will continue.
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Key Points
- How the first day of the Conclave will unfold
- Why the Vatican is cutting the phone signal ahead of the Conclave
- Catholic priest says 'it's everybody's guess' ahead of voting on next Pope
- When will voting to select a new Pope begin?
- The way the voting ritual works
Watch | key moments from the funeral of Pope Francis
17:18
,
Jabed Ahmed
Just over a week ago, hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Rome and the Vatican to farewell the much-loved Pope Francis.
Here are the key moments from that historic funeral.
Watch: cardinals take oath of secrecy
16:59
,
Rachel Clun
The conclave has begun, but earlier the cardinals all swore oaths of secrecy in Latin.
Watch that ceremony here:
‘Extra omnes’ is called, starting the conclave
16:43
,
Rachel Clun
Archbishop Diego Ravelli has called out "Extra omnes," Latin for "all out."
It means anyone not eligible to vote must leave the Sistine Chapel.
The doors will be closed and ceremonially locked, allowing the work of the conclave to begin.
The word conclave comes from the Latin, con clave, which means ‘with a key’.
In pictures: Scenes at the vatican as conclave begins
16:38
,
Rachel Clun
Many people have gathered in St Peter’s Basilica to watch the ceremonies leading up to the start of the conclave.
The cardinals are continuing to swear their oaths.
Cardinals taking vow of secrecy in order of seniority
16:26
,
Rachel Clun
The cardinals are currently taking the vow of secrecy, before the conclave begins.
The Vatican News reports they are going in order of seniority.
First was Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who has been the Vatican’s secretary of state for more than a decade. He was, before Pope Francis died, the second most senior member of the Catholic Church.
In pictures: Faithful watch as conclave begins from St Peter's Square
16:14
,
Rachel Clun
Faithful, tourists and the media gathered in St Peter’s Square to watch as the cardinals go through the last ceremony before the conclave begins.
Oath of secrecy now being read
16:01
,
Rachel Clun
The oath all 133 cardinals must swear to is now being read.
The oath is in Latin, but each cardinal must swear to uphold the secrets of the election of the Pope, including how they came to the decision, unless the new pontiff decides the deliberations can be made public.
Each cardinal must now make their vow while placing their hand on the Book of the Gospels.
Cardinals bow to crucifix in Sistine Chapel
15:42
,
Rachel Clun
As the cardinals file into the Sistine Chapel, they bow in pairs at the altar.
Behind the altar is a crucifix, and behind that is Michelangelo’s Jesus the Judge mural.
Shortly, they will make their oaths before the conclave can begin.
The procession into the Sistine Chapel starts
15:34
,
Rachel Clun
The cardinals are slowly walking past the Swiss Guards in a short procession to enter the Sistine Chapel.
Led by a crucifix, the clergy are chanting the Litany of the Saints as they lead the 133 cardinal electors into the chapel.
What will happen before the conclave officially begin
15:27
,
Rachel Clun
The conclave will start shortly.
As mentioned earlier, the cardinals have gathered for the final ceremony before their secret deliberations begin.
Soon, they will have an oath-taking ceremony: taking vows of secrecy, and vowing to carry out their duty.
After that, the retired preacher of the papal household, Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, will deliver a meditation.
The master of papal liturgical ceremonies, Archbishop Diego Ravelli, will then 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.
Watch live: final ceremony before conclave is underway
15:25
,
Rachel Clun
The cardinals have gathered for the final ceremony before their secret deliberations begin.
A guide to history’s most unusual Conclaves
14:50
,
Rachel Clun
Conclaves to elect a new pope come with some 800 years of history, and not all of those papal elections have been orderly affairs.
From fist-fighting to pranks, here is a look some of the most unusual Conclaves in history:
Senior cardinal says new pontiff must be ‘the Pope that our time needs’
14:32
,
Rachel Clun
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re said the election of the new pope “is not a simple succession of persons”, in his homily during Mass this morning.
“Let us pray, then, that the Holy Spirit, who in the last hundred years has given us a series of truly holy and great Pontiffs, will give us a new Pope according to God’s heart for the good of the Church and of humanity,” he said.
“Let us pray that God will grant the Church a Pope who knows how best to awaken the consciences of all and the moral and spiritual energies in today’s society, characterised by great technological progress but which tends to forget God.”
Re said the world today expects a lot from the Church, particularly when it comes to safeguarding spiritual values.
“May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, intercede with her maternal intercession, so that the Holy Spirit will enlighten the minds of the Cardinal electors and help them agree on the Pope that our time needs.”
Senior cardinal says Church needs a new Pope who can lead ‘at this difficult and complex turning point in history’
14:14
,
Rachel Clun
Earlier, the Dean of the College of Cardinals Giovanni Battista Re led the special Mass for the election of the Pope, before the cardinal electors enter the secret conclave.
In his homily, Re said the cardinal electors were undertaking “an act of the highest human and ecclesial responsibility”, and were faced with a choice “of exceptional importance”.
“We are here to invoke the help of the Holy Spirit, to implore his light and strength so that the Pope elected may be he whom the Church and humanity need at this difficult and complex turning point in history,” Re said.
Why the Vatican is cutting the phone signal ahead of the Conclave
14:00
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Rachel Clun
Phone signals cut, signal jammers in place and boosted security: the Vatican is taking the secrecy surrounding the conclave extremely seriously.
Soon, the 133 cardinal electors will take oaths of secrecy before the conclave to select the next Pope begins, following the oaths taken by the 100-or-so support staff who will help them for the duration of their deliberations.
But the Vatican has taken other measures to ensure no news of the deliberations inside the chapel leaks out before the white smoke signal rises over the Sistine Chapel roof.
The office of the governor of Vatican City said on Monday that the phone towers in the city state will be deactivated at 3pm Roman time (2pm UK time) on Wednesday.
Read more about the security around the conclave below:
The Roman tailors to the Popes
13:47
,
Rachel Clun
Two Roman tailors have also been wondering who will lead the Catholic Church.
Ahead of previous conclaves, the tailors had been asked to provide white cassocks in three sizes - small, medium and large - so that the newly elected Pope can get changed before their first public appearance as pontiff.
Raniero Mancinelli, who's been working on papal vestments since the early 1960s, said he's prepped three robes to donate to the Vatican anyway.
He said different Popes have had different preferences, down to the quality of the fabric used.
"Francis preferred things that were much simpler and practical," Mancinelli said inside his shop, just down the street from one of the Vatican's main entrance gates. "Ratzinger [Pope Benedict XVI] liked slightly more choice fabrics."
Lorenzo Gammarelli, the sixth-generation owner of an ecclesiastical tailor shop in downtown Rome, recalled the family lore that when John XXII was elected, the cassock was too small.
"So they had to intervene in the background, use pins to take it out so he could appear on the balcony," Gammarelli said.
Key frontrunners to be the next pope: Pietro Parolin
13:17
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Rachel Clun
Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin has appeared on nearly every shortlist as a contender to be the next pope.
Parolin has been the Vatican’s secretary of state for the past 12 years, the next most senior member of the Catholic Church after the Pope.
His role as the Vatican’s top diplomat has brought him into contact with cardinals around the world, both in their home countries and in Rome, meaning he is well-known to all 132 other electors going into the conclave.
The 70-year-old, originally from a small town in the northern Italian region of Veneto, is said to be a steady administrator who could bring calm after three at-times tempestuous papacies.
Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reports he could already have the support of 50 cardinals ahead of their lock-up this afternoon.
Read more about Parolin below:
Key frontrunners to be the next pope: Pierbattista Pizzaballa
13:00
,
Rachel Clun
According to insiders, another Italian could be in the running to be the next pope: Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Patriarch of Jerusalem.
The 60-year-old is one of the younger cardinals tipped to potentially succeed Pope Francis, but he has emerged as a favourite largely thanks to his role as leader of the Catholics in the Holy Land, at a time when events in Israel and Gaza are at the forefront of global politics.
Choosing Pizzaballa would be a significant geopolitical statement by the Church, particularly because the Church has at times been highly critical of Benjamin Netanyahu.
Pope Francis was known to highly respect him, and Pizzaballa is known for being a successful diplomat and a leading Biblical scholar.
What is the Swiss Guard?
12:42
,
Rachel Clun
The Swiss Guard has been a feature of the Vatican for centuries, but their uniforms in bright stripes of yellow, blue and red belie their legitimate military training.
They have formed part of the Vatican’s security since 1506, and have sometimes been referred to as the smallest army in the world.
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, members must be Swiss Roman Catholics between the ages of 19 and 30, and have undergone basic training in the Swiss military.
Despite being Swiss, they are independent of the Swiss military and are instead employed by the Catholic Church.
Italian police and Swiss Guards mobilised ahead of conclave
12:24
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Rachel Clun, AP
Thousands of Italian police officers including the carabinieri, as well as the Vatican’s Swiss Guard have been mobilised to enhance security around the Vatican for the conclave.
Police were carrying out enhanced checks of people entering St Peter’s Square on Wednesday, as cardinals attended a special pre-conclave Mass inside the Basilica.
More than 4,000 officers have been deployed, and an anti-drone system and signal jammers have been set up 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.
Catholic priest says 'it's everybody's guess' ahead of voting on next Pope
12:07
,
Rachel Clun
A priest and Catholic analyst says it was all guesswork at this stage as to who would become the next Pope.
The conclave of 133 cardinals from 70 countries must reach a two-thirds consensus, meaning at least 89 clerics must agree on who will lead the Catholic Church.
Jesuit priest Father Thomas Reese told the BBC it was “all guessing at this point”.
“If the conclave is over quickly it’s going to be one of the leading candidates like Cardinal Parolin, the current Secretary of State, but it’s everybody’s guess at this point,” he said.
'Tagle-core' sweeps social media as Gen Z back Asian cardinal for pope
11:22
,
Rachel Clun
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle seems to be the favourite among TikTok users to become the next pope.
Several videos of the Filipino cleric have gone viral on the social media platform, including one titled ‘Tagle-core’ stitching together clips o the Cardinal.
In another, he is speaking to a Polish congregation and admits he only knows a few words in Polish - and one of those words is ‘wodka’.
One commenter wrote: “If he becomes pope, more youth will become closer to [the] Church because of his youthful charisma”.
Where are the 133 cardinals from?
10:39
,
Rachel Clun
Not all cardinals are eligible to take part in the conclave. Only those under the age of 80 when it begins can join in, reducing the number of eligible cardinals to 135.
Two of those cardinals - one from Spain, and another from Keyna - were unable to attend, so 133 cardinals will take part.
Here’s a bit of a breakdown of where they are from.
Europe: 52
Unsurprisingly, Italy has the most cardinals, with 17 in total. European cardinals are also from countries including Spain, France, the Netherlands and Hungary.
Asia and the Middle East: 23
These cardinals are from countries including Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, India and Japan.
Africa: 17
The African cardinals come from countries including Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa.
North America: 16
Of these, 10 are from the United States, four are from Canada and two are from Mexico.
South and Central America: 21
These cardinals represent countries including Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador and Peru.
Oceania: 4
There is one cardinal each from Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Tonga.
Watch: Cardinals celebrate final Mass ahead of conclave to elect new pope
10:31
,
Rachel Clun
Cardinals and other members of the clergy have celebrated a mass at St Peter’s Basilica ahead of the conclave.
Dean of cardinals calls for energetic Pope who values unity in diversity
10:10
,
Rachel Clun
A senior cardinal has urged the cardinal electors who will soon begin the conclave to decide the next pope to put personal interests aside and choose someone who prizes unity in diversity.
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals, has presided over Mass in St Peter’s Basilica ahead of the conclave beginning later this afternoon.
Re, who at 91 is too old to take part, reminded cardinals that the conclave was the highest church responsibility, and they must set aside “every personal consideration”.
In his sermon in Italian, he said the new pope should foster unity within the church.
Re said the cardinals should elect someone "whom the Church and humanity need at this difficult, complex, and turbulent turning point in history”, Le Parisien reported.
"Let us pray that God grants the Church a Pope who will be able to awaken the consciences of all, as well as the moral and spiritual energies in today's society, characterised by great technological progress, but which tends to forget God.”
Pre-conclave mass is underway
09:28
,
Rachel Clun
The last mass before the cardinals begin their conclave is underway at St Peter’s Basilica this morning.
In attendance are the cardinal electors, Catholic bishops and members of the Catholic Church.
The way the voting ritual works
07:46
,
Angus Thompson
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."
The folded ballot is placed on a round plate and tipped into an oval silver and gold urn. Once cast, the ballots are opened one by one by three different "scrutineers," cardinals selected at random who write down the names and read them aloud.
Cardinals can keep their own tally on a sheet of paper provided but must turn their notes in to be burned at the end of voting.
The scrutineers, whose work is checked by other cardinals called revisors, then add up the results of each round of balloting and write the results down on a separate sheet of paper, which is preserved in the papal archives.
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.
Watch: key moments from the funeral of Pope Francis
Tuesday 6 May 2025 23:58
,
Rachel Clun
Just over a week ago, hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Rome and the Vatican to farewell the much-loved Pope Francis.
Here are the key moments from that historic funeral.
