The Catholic church’s College of Cardinals has gathered at the Vatican in Rome, Italy, and will begin the process of electing a new pontiff to replace on Wednesday.
Francis, the church’s 266th pontiff, died on Easter Monday (April 21), after leading the church for 12 years.
Voting during the so-called papal conclave takes place in the Sistine Chapel and is conducted by secret ballot.
On Wednesday, 133 cardinals will begin the process with the traditional Holy Mass for the Election of the Pope (Pro Eligendo Romano Pontefice) at 10:00 a.m. local time (0800 GMT) in St.Peter’s Basilica.
At 10:30 a.m., they will gather to pray the Litany of Saints at the Apostolic Palace’s Pauline Chapel before proceeding to the Sistine Chapel.
All voting cardinals, each a potential successor to Francis, swear an oath to fulfill the mission of Peter — the first leader of the Catholic church — known as the “Munus Petrinium,” should they be elected.
The so-called Master of Pontifical Liturgical Ceremonies, then proclaims the famous Latin words “extra omnes” — everyone out — instructing those who are not voting to leave the Sistine Chapel immediately.
The Preacher Emeritus of the Papal Household, Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, will then lead a second meditation attended by the cardinals and the Master of Liturgical Services. The two then leave the chapel, at which point the sequestered cardinal electors begin the quest to select a new leader amongst themselves.
The first ballots will be cast on Wednesday evening and, barring the the unlikely event that the conclave produces a winner on the first ballot, voting will continue four times each day until a new leader has been found. Subsequent votes will be held twice each morning and twice each evening until a new pontiff has been found.
Famously, ballots are burned after each round of voting. The smoke eminating from a special chimney installed in the chapel informs the outside world of the result, with black smoke indicating the failure to find a leader and white smoke letting the world know that a new pope has been found.
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