A conclave began in the Vatican, on which the cardinals will choose a new pope

In the Vatican, a conclave began, during which 133 cardinals should choose the new Pope after the death of Francis.

Cardinals who arrived in Rome at 10:00 local time (11:00 Moscow time) visited the Cathedral of St. Peter the Mass “Pro Eligendo Pontifice” (“For the Election of the Pope”). Then they returned for lunch at the Santa Marta guest residence, from which at about 16:30 they went to the Sistine Chapel, where the conclave passes.

Before the dad’s elections, the cardinals pass their electronic devices and are left without communication. In the Sistine Chapel, the cardinals took the oath of conservation of secrets, the papal chief ceremony of Diego Ravelli said “Extra Omnes” (“Down with all”), after which those who are not participating in the Conclave were asked to leave, and secret voting began behind closed doors.

During the elections, several rounds of voting are held, and after each of them the ballots are burned, and smoke is coming from the pipe above the Sistine Chapel, which signals whether the new dad is selected. If the smoke is black, then not a single candidate received the necessary majority of votes (two -thirds plus one vote - that is, 89 votes this year), if white, then the elections took place.

On the first day of the conclave, only one voting round will pass. The first smoke is expected no earlier than 19:00 local time. Subsequent rounds will take place on other days.

During the first four days of the conclave, up to four votes per day can be held: two in the morning and two in the afternoon. On the fifth day, the vote is suspended to give the cardinals time for prayers and informal discussion. No later than a day, the vote resumes and last another seven rounds before the next break. If no one can get the required number of votes within 33 rounds, then the cardinals choose from two candidates who have become voting leaders in the last round. In this case, a simple majority of votes is required to win.

• Pope Francis (in the world of Jorge Mario Bergolo) died on April 21, the day after Easter, at the age of 88. He was elected Pope in March 2013, replacing Benedict XVI in this post, who renounced the throne due to health problems.
• The new pope is chosen during the conclave, which can last from several hours to several days, weeks or even months. The longest conclave in the history of the Catholic Church, as the Associated Press recalls , took place in the XIII century - the cardinals took 1006 days (almost three years) to choose the successor of Pope Clement IV. The shortest conclave took several hours - it was the election of Pope Julia II in 1503.