Cardinals from around the world have descended on Rome ahead of the secretive conclave to decide the next pope.
Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Filipino cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle are among the favourites to succeed Pope Francis ahead of the Papal Conclave, which begins on Wednesday.
In a process that has been virtually unchanged for 800 years, 133 cardinals will gather in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel to start multiple rounds of voting and discussion to select who among them could lead the Catholic Church.
The conclave comes after the funeral of Pope Francis, who was farewelled by hundreds of thousands of mourners in St Peter’s Square on April 26.
Pope Francis changed the Catholic Church during his 12-year papacy, taking a strong moral stance on climate change in and the plight of migrants and refugees.
He also increased the diversity of cardinals, who will now elect his successor. The question is whether they will chose someone to carry on Pope Francis’s legacy, or opt for a more traditional figure.
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Key Points
- Frontrunners emerge in line for papacy
- How will the conclave work?
- Vatican to cut phone signal during conclave to elect new pope
- Conclave officials, cleaners and cooks take oath of secrecy
How a name will show the public what to expect from the next pope
16:24
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Colleen Barry
The first hint of the next pope's direction will come with the name he chooses.
After the traditional announcement of "Habemus Papam" – "We have a pope" – from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, the new pontiff's baptismal name is revealed, followed by the all-important papal name, laden with symbolic meaning.
Here’s what some of those name choices could signal:
Frontrunners emerge in line for papacy
15:23
,
Rachel Clun
A handful of cardinals have emerged as favourites to succeed Pope Francis, according to insiders.
But uncertainty about the level of support for any one man amongst the 133 cardinal electors means that it is one of the most wide-open conclaves in history.
Italian cardinal and Vatican secretary of state, Pietro Parolin, is one of the frontrunners, according to insiders.
Filipino cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle is also a favourite to succeed Pope Francis.
The cardinal is widely expected to carry on Pope Francis’s agenda of progressive politics if elected.
Other frontrunners include Peter Erdov from Hungary, Jean-Marc Aveline from France, and Pierbattista Pizzaballa who is serving as the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.
In photos: Papal tailors prepare for new pontiff
14:21
,
Rachel Clun
Ahead of the conclave, two longtime papal tailors have also been preparing for the election of a new pope.
Before previous conclaves, tailors are often asked to prepare three sets of robes so that whoever is elected can immediately change into the white cassock traditionally worn for their first public appearance as pope.
But the tailors said that as of last week, they had not received orders to make different-sized cassocks.
Raniero Mancinelli, who has worked on papal vestments since the early 1960s, said he has prepped three robes to donate to the Vatican anyway.
How a smoke signal will tell the world a pope has been elected
13:22
,
Rachel Clun
Late last week, firefighters installed a chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel.
That chimney will play a key role in communicating the results of voting from the Papal Conclave, which begins on Wednesday.
During the conclave, cardinals vote by writing the name of their chosen candidate on a ballot paper.
Every two rounds of voting, those papers are burned in a small stove in the Sistine Chapel, which is installed specially for the conclave.
If a pope has not yet been chosen, those ballots are mixed with canisters containing potassium perchlorate, anthracene and sulfur to create a black smoke to tell people watching from outside that no decision has been made.
When there is a winner, the ballots are burned with a mix of potassium chlorate, lactose and chloroform resin to produce white smoke, which lets the outside world know a new pope has been selected.
Conclave officials, cleaners and cooks take oath of secrecy
12:21
,
Rachel Clun
Support staff from clerics and confessors to drivers, cooks and cleaners have taken an oath of secrecy ahead of the Papal Conclave.
About 100 staff who will support the cardinals during their conclave took oaths of secrecy on Monday in the Pauline Chapel at the Vatican, spokesperson Matteo Bruni said.
Those staff include cooks, cleaners, doctors, nurses, elevator operators and drivers tasked with transporting the cardinals from their residence to the Sistine Chapel.
Clerics and confessors who speak several languages were also amongst the staff, who all face automatic excommunication from the church if they break the vow.
The 133 cardinals taking part in the conclave will take their oaths in the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday, before they cast their first ballots.
Vatican to cut phone signal during conclave to elect new pope
12:17
,
Rachel Clun
The Vatican will confiscate all of the cardinals’ mobile phones and plans to use signal jamming technology around the Sistine Chapel and the cardinals’ residences to prevent outside interference during the conclave.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni initially said on Monday that cardinals would be asked to leave their mobile phones at their Vatican residence Santa Marta, but hours later he said that they would hand their phones over and only get them back at the end of the conclave.
The Vatican also plans to use signal jamming around the Sistine Chapel and the residences to prevent electronic surveillance or communication outside the conclave, with the Vatican gendarmes overseeing the security measures.
But Bruni said the matter went “beyond just technical questions”.
He said the conclave was a a "process united also with prayer, with meditation, with thought about who the person could be whom the Lord has identified as the pope of Rome."
How will the conclave work?
12:12
,
Rachel Clun
The conclave is organised by the a cardinal selected by the pope known as the camerlengo, Cardinal Kevin Farrell.
The 133 cardinals of voting age (under the age of 80) who are able to attend will gather inside the Sistine Chapel, where they will be unable to communicate with outsiders until the next pope is chosen.
Rounds of voting will be held amid discussions and meetings to decide who is best placed to run the Catholic Church.
A pope is only elected when a single candidate receives a two-thirds majority. Sometimes this happens quickly if a strong candidate emerges, but conclaves can also run for a long time - the longest Papal Conclave took the best part of three years, in the late thirteenth century.
When a candidate has finally won the two-thirds majority, the candidate - who will be one of the cardinals gathered in the conclave - will be called to the front of the chapel and asked if they are willing to accept the task. If the answer is yes, the new pope then chooses his papal name.
