The official mourning period for Pope Francis has ended, and the church is moving forward with the selection of a new pope.
A chimney has been installed atop the Sistine Chapel to signal the progress of the conclave to the public.
Black smoke indicates that the cardinals have not reached an agreement, while white smoke signifies the election of a new pope.
The conclave is a secretive, locked-door affair with no communication until a pope is elected, aside from the smoke signals.
Conclaves in the 20th and 21st centuries have typically lasted less than four days.
The death of Pope Francis has set in motion the process of electing a new leader for the world's 1.4 billion Catholics. Central to this process is the conclave, a gathering of cardinal electors who will convene in the Sistine Chapel. The proceedings are shrouded in secrecy, with the outside world receiving only one indication of the election's progress: the smoke signals from a newly installed chimney.
The chimney, connected to a stove within the Sistine Chapel, will be used to burn the ballots after each round of voting. If the cardinals fail to reach a two-thirds majority agreement, black smoke will billow from the chimney, signaling the need for another vote. Once a pope has been successfully elected, chemicals are used to produce white smoke, which announces the news to the waiting world.
Kurt Martens, a professor of canon law at the Catholic University of America, notes that the first round of voting typically occurs on the first evening of the conclave, mainly serving as an indication of the cardinals' preferences. Subsequent days involve two rounds of voting each morning and afternoon until a consensus is reached. Bry Jensen, host of the Pontifacts podcast, points out that recent conclaves have been relatively brief, with all conclaves since 1900 concluding in under four days. Pope Francis himself was elected on the second day of the 2013 conclave.
Q: What happens during a conclave?
Cardinals gather in the Sistine Chapel to elect a new pope in a secretive process involving multiple rounds of voting.
Q: How will the public know when a new pope has been elected?
White smoke from the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel signals the election of a new pope.
The election of a new pope is a significant event for Catholics worldwide. The smoke signals from the Sistine Chapel's chimney will be the only indication of the conclave's progress. Recent conclaves have been relatively short, typically lasting less than four days.
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