Who will be the next pope – and how does the conclave work?

The rituals surrounding the papal succession date back centuries, but the process has been given a modern revamp after the Vatican launched a new online guide to every cardinal who will choose the next pontiff.

The College of Cardinals Report – a "slick, interactive website", said Crux – features details of all 253 cardinals, including where they stand on issues such as female deacons, same-sex unions and priestly celibacy.

Special attention has been paid to 22 cardinals currently deemed potential papal candidates. But this has brought complaints from some Catholic commentators who think it disrespectful to speculate on who the next pope will be while the current one is still alive.

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But at the age of 88, Francis – born Jorge Mario Bergoglio – is now the oldest Pope in over a century and is in increasingly frail health.

Writing earlier this year in his memoir "Life: My Story Through History", Francis said he had never considered following the example of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, and abdicating – a "momentous decision" that "broke a taboo that had lasted for six centuries", said The Times. But he did confirm that, upon becoming pontiff, he had signed a statement to the effect that he would resign if bad health made it impossible for him to perform his duties.

How is the pope chosen?

Out of the 253 cardinals listed in the report, 140 of them are currently under the age of 80 and so eligible to participate in the conclave – the papal election.

After the death or resignation of a pope, the cardinals are called to convene in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, where they take an oath of secrecy and are isolated from the outside world. During this time they can discuss the merits of likely candidates. Open campaigning is not allowed, said the BBC, but it is "still a highly political process".

Voting is held through a series of secret ballots, each cardinal elector writing their name of choice on a piece of paper. A two-thirds majority is required to win. Four rounds of ballots are held each day until a candidate receives the required majority. Ballot papers are burnt after each session, giving off the smoke that can be seen by onlookers outside. If the smoke is black, the cardinals have failed to reach a decision. White smoke signifies a new pope has been chosen.

What is the conclave?

The small group of cardinals who form the conclave which selects the next pope is "truly is the world's most powerful electorate" for its size, said the Financial Times. Francis – the first non-European pope since the eighth century – has done a "great deal to shape the choice" of the next conclave. Of the 140 cardinals under 80, 111 have been appointed by the current Pope, according to America magazine. The total number of electors is technically supposed to be capped at 120, but Francis is not the first pope to go over the limit.

Most of the cardinals will have little knowledge about the person they are voting for, said The College of Cardinals Report. Voting for a pope is not like a political leadership contest, "where the candidates are publicly scrutinised, often ad nauseam". A small number are curial cardinals, working in the Roman Curia that assists the Pope in carrying out his governance of the Church, but the majority serve as archbishops in dioceses around the world.

Francis has "revolutionised" the College of Cardinals by passing over large archdioceses like Los Angeles, Venice and Milan "in favour of picking men from the peripheries who reflect his pastoral orientation and concern for the poor", said America magazine. "The result will be a conclave very different from the one that elected him. It will be less Italian, less European and less curial but will be more Asian and African."

Who are the frontrunners?

The conclave could return a conservative, whose "appointment would send a powerful message about the direction the Church would be taking", said the Catholic Herald, or "a Pope from the developing world". A pick like the Philippines' Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle "would be hailed by liberals, given the changing demographic of the Church".

Tagle has long been one of the leading "papabili" (the contenders to be pope) as they are known in Italian, among both Vatican watchers and bookmakers. However, in November, Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's secretary of state, or highest-ranking diplomat, became the favourite with the bookmakers. For 11 years he has survived Francis' "regular savage reshuffles", said Damian Thompson in The Spectator. "He is regarded as a moderate who would be able to repair the damage caused by his boss's outbursts and vendettas."

Another cardinal from the developing world, 64-year-old Fridolin Ambongo of the Democratic Republic of Congo, who is also the president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, is also a "strong new contender", wrote John L. Allen in the Catholic Herald. Canada's Cardinal Marc Ouellet and Hungary's Cardinal Peter Erdő have also been touted as potential pontiffs.