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

Majority of Catholic cardinals preparing to vote for new pontiff have no experience of conclave and are 'less predictable than ever before'

Pop art-style repeated pattern of a Pope Pius XII statue with arrows and question marks
The rituals surrounding the papal succession date back centuries
(Image credit: Illustration by Stephen Kelly / Shutterstock)

The cardinals of the Catholic Church arrived at the Vatican's Apostolic Palace to begin the conclave, the secretive process of electing a new pope.

The 133 eligible voting cardinals who will be shut up in isolation in the Vatican until a new pope is elected have "sworn an oath" to keep the details of the process "under wraps for life", said the BBC. The Vatican goes into "total lockdown": the cardinals are unable to contact the outside world, and surrender all electronic devices on entry. The area is also "swept for microphones and bugs" to prevent any leaks.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More