How a New Pope Is Elected in the Conclave

The College of Cardinals elects the pope. Nope, that’s not a university where priests and bishops learn how to become cardinals. Unlike Notre Dame and The Catholic University of America, the College of Cardinals merely refers to all the cardinals around the world, just as the College of Bishops is a way of describing all the world’s Catholic bishops.

In the Catholic hierarchy, priests get promoted to be bishops or archbishops. And bishops and archbishops get promoted to be cardinals. There is precedent for priests being named directly to cardinal, but it’s usually after the man is 80 years old.

The pope handpicks bishops to become cardinals, and their primary function in life is to elect a new pope when the old pope dies or resigns. Because most modern popes live at least ten years in office (except Pope John Paul I, who lived only one month), cardinals do have other work to do instead of just waiting around for the boss to pass on. Cardinals under the age of 80 are eligible to vote for the next pope.

The electors can vote for any other cardinal or any Catholic bishop, priest, deacon, or layman anywhere in the world and of any liturgical rite, such as Latin, Byzantine, and so on. Normally, the cardinals select another cardinal, both because they know each other better and because the number of cardinals to choose from is small compared to the thousands of bishops around the world and the nearly 415,000 priests. Although extremely rare, if a layman is elected pope (as in the case of Benedict IX), he first has to be ordained a deacon, then a priest, and then a bishop before he can function as pope because the authority resides in his office as bishop of Rome. If a priest is chosen, he needs to be ordained a bishop prior to being installed as pope.

What happens in the conclave

No sooner than 15 days and no later than 20 days after the death or resignation of the pope, all the cardinals are summoned to Rome for the secret conclave — the private meeting of all the cardinals for the specific purpose of electing the pope. Conclave comes from the Latin cum clave, meaning ‘with key,’ because the cardinals are literally locked into the Sistine Chapel, the pope’s private chapel at the Vatican, until they elect a new pope.

After the cardinals from around the world assemble inside the conclave, they begin discussions and deliberations. Almost like a sequestered jury, the cardinals are permitted no contact with the outside world during the conclave. Under pain of excommunication, no cardinal is ever allowed to discuss what transpires at these elections — much like in the sacrament of Confession — to keep the element of politics and outside influence to a bare minimum.

Historically, the election of a new pope could take place in one of three different forms.

• Acclamation: A name is presented, and everyone unanimously consents without the need of a secret ballot.
• Compromise: Each cardinal casts a secret ballot. If no one achieves a two-thirds majority after several rounds of voting, then the entire College of Cardinals may choose one or several electors to select a candidate, and the entire body is bound to accept that choice. A unanimous vote to employ compromise is necessary for it to be valid.
• Scrutiny: Each cardinal proposes a candidate and gives reasons for his qualifications before the individual cardinals cast their secret ballot. A two-thirds majority decision is needed to elect a new pope. This is the only valid method currently permitted in papal conclaves.

Want a peek at what’s going on behind those closed doors? When voting for a new pope, each cardinal writes a name on a piece of paper, folds it twice, and places it on a gold paten (plate). The paten is then turned upside down, so the ballot can fall into a chalice (cup) underneath. This symbolism is deep, because the paten and chalice are primarily used at the Catholic Mass to hold the wafer of bread and cup of wine that, when consecrated, become the body and blood of Christ during the Eucharistic Prayer.

If no one receives two-thirds of the votes or if the nominee declines the nomination, then chemicals are added to the paper ballots, and they’re burned in the chimney. The chemicals make black smoke, which alerts the crowds gathered outside that a two-thirds majority decision hasn’t yet been made. Previously, wet straw had been added to the ballots before burning to produce the darker color. But now, chemicals and dyes are used to avoid mix-ups or uncertainty when the smoke is released.

On the first day, one vote can be taken. On subsequent days, two votes can occur in the morning and two later in the day. The election continues until a pope is elected. In 1996, Pope John Paul II introduced a variation in which if no one was elected by a two-thirds majority after 21 votes, then on the 22nd ballot, the man who received a simple majority (50 percent plus one) was elected pope. Pope Benedict XVI subsequently rescinded that change in 2007 and returned the requirement of two-thirds no matter how long the conclave takes. The longest papal conclave on record was the one trying to choose the successor of Pope Clement IV in the 13th century. In that instance, it took two years and nine months to finally elect a new pope. However, in more recent years, the conclave typically doesn’t last more than a week.

When someone receives two-thirds of the votes and he accepts, the ballots are burned with different chemicals, which blows white smoke to alert the crowds and world that a new pope has been elected.

After a cardinal (or another candidate if a cardinal is not chosen) has received a two-thirds majority vote, he’s asked whether he accepts the nomination. If he accepts, he’s then asked, “By what name are you to be addressed?”

Pope John II (533 A.D.) was the first to change his name when he was elected pope because he was born with the name Mercury after the pagan god. So he chose the Christian name John instead. But it was not until Sergius IV (1009) that all subsequent popes continued the tradition of changing their name at the time of election. So, for example, Pope Pius XII (1939) was originally Eugenio Pacelli, John XXIII (1958) was Angelo Roncalli, Paul VI (1963) was Giovanni Montini, John Paul I (1978) was Albino Luciani, John Paul II (1978) was Karol Wojtyla, Benedict XVI (2005) was Josef Ratzinger, and Francis (2013) was Jorge Mario Bergoglio.

Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, confirmed that he chose his name after St. Francis of Assisi because he is “the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation,” which have all certainly been hallmarks of how Pope Francis spent his time as the head of the Church.