How the next Pope is chosen

Pope Francis has died at the age of 88. The Vatican announced that at 07:35 local time on Easter Monday the head of the Roman Catholic Church "returned to the house of the Father" at his residence, Casa Santa Marta. He was the first Latin American pope in the Church’s history.

Following tradition, the pontiff’s death was confirmed by the head of the Vatican’s health department and the cardinal chamberlain (camerlengo, in Italian) Kevin Joseph Farrell.

The Pope’s body will now be taken to his chapel for a private ceremony, in which it will be placed in a single coffin - a departure from the three nested coffins common in previous pontiffs' funerals.

The last 10 popes of the Catholic Church

Pope Francis himself chose to scale back some of the funerary pomp and ceremony. In 2024, he simplified what would be his funeral rites. This time, there will be no private viewing for cardinals and a public viewing will take place in St Peter’s Basilica after a procession led by the camerlengo.

Inside the church, however, the Pope’s body will remain in the coffin, which won’t be raised on a pedestal.

Pope Francis will, like his predecessor, be buried with some items that symbolise his time as Supreme Pontiff and his achievements.

Those are the pallium, a vestment used only by the pontiff and metropolitan archbishops; the rogito, a deed that summarises the highlights of Francis's time as Pope, and bags of silver, gold and copper coins in number equal to the years of his papacy.

In a 2023 interview, Pope Francis revealed he already had a tomb prepared for him in his favourite church, the Basilica of St Mary Major.

The basilica also houses the tombs of other popes and is located close to Rome’s main railway station, Termini. Even though it sits on Italian soil, the church is considered to be Vatican territory.

The funeral and burial rituals will be finished four to six days after Pope Francis’s death.

Following the Pope's death, the cardinal chamberlain seals his apartment in the House of St Martha, where he chose to live during his papacy.

The camerlengo destroys the Pope’s fisherman’s ring, a signet used to sign documents, in front of the College of Cardinals using a ceremonial hammer.

This is the beginning of the Sede vacante period, when the Catholic Church is without a Pope and prepares for the conclave - the secret meeting where cardinals elect a new Pope.

What does the Pope do?

The Pope leads the Catholic Church and is seen as St Peter’s successor, giving him authority over its 1.4 billion followers. Catholics believe this connects him directly to Jesus Christ, making him a key source of spiritual guidance.

Alongside the Bible, his teachings help shape the Church’s beliefs and practices. Other Christian denominations, such as Protestants and Orthodox Christians, do not recognise his authority.

Inside the conclave

Once Francis is buried, the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, has 15 to 20 days to summon the cardinals to Rome.

Choosing the pontiff

Papal conclaves are notoriously difficult to predict because the election process is shrouded in so much secrecy. Once they enter the Sistine Chapel, they must have no communication with the outside world until a new Pope is elected.

The only people admitted in the chapel and in the guesthouse are doctors, confessors, masters of ceremonies, cooks, and cleaning staff. But they are also bound to secrecy about anything concerning the conclave.

“Unlike other world governments, these men are not aligned with any particular political parties so one never knows exactly what their priorities are, where they stand on controversial issues and what they will have top of mind when they cast their ballot. All of it adds up to a lot of intrigue and very little certainty,” says the BBC's Davide Ghiglione in Rome.

Cardinals take turns casting their votes on a simple card that says, in Latin: "I elect as Supreme Pontiff."

They walk in line, in order of seniority, and place their cards inside the large silver and guilded urn.

Three assistants to the camerlengo, the scrutineers, will then count the votes as they are read out loud. All the paper cards are then threaded together and burnt.

Two furnaces are installed at the back of the Sistine Chapel for the conclave.

The one on the right is used for the burning of the ballot papers and the one on the left is used to generate additional smoke to signal which way the vote has gone.

Chemical compounds are mixed to make black smoke for an unsuccessful vote or white smoke to declare that a new Pope has been chosen.

The smoke is released via a chimney visible to people waiting in St Peter’s Square. The release of white smoke is accompanied by pealing of bells – to avoid confusion.

A new Pope is elected only when a two-thirds majority of votes is reached - and that can take time.

If it doesn’t happen in the first afternoon, the cardinals will vote up to four times every day. They can take a prayer break after a third day without reaching a decision.

From then on, they can take another break every seven votes. If, after 33 rounds, no decision is still made, a run-off will happen between the two most voted candidates.

It’s not uncommon for conclaves to last a few days - the longest in history lasted two years and nine months, starting in 1268.

But after several rule changes to speed up the process over time, the average length of a conclave since the beginning of the 20th century has been three days. The longest, in 1922, lasted five.

Both Pope Francis and his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, were elected after two days.

What’s in a name?

Once a Pope is elected, he has to formally accept the job in front of the College of Cardinals, and state his papal name.

In a press conference after his election, Pope Francis said his name honoured St Francis of Assisi, and that he was inspired by his Brazilian friend Cardinal Claudio Hummes.

The pontiff told reporters that when he was proclaimed, Hummes hugged and kissed him, saying: "Do not forget the poor."

For more than 500 years, popes used their own names. This changed to symbolic names in order to simplify their given names or to refer to previous pontiffs.

That is the main reason most popes in history have chosen the name John.

The 10 most popular Pope names

After stating his new name, the new Pope is taken to the so-called "Room of Tears", an antechamber in the Sistine Chapel, where he first receives his papal robes and accessories like the white cassock, a cape called the mozzetta and a white skullcap called the zucchetto.

The room earns its nickname from accounts of previous popes who, overwhelmed by the weight of the moment, were moved to tears after their election.

What he chooses to wear from that selection in those first minutes is a personal decision - one that can signal how he sees the role he’s just accepted. Pope Francis notably declined to wear the elaborate red cope (a ceremonial cloak worn by clergy) with ermine, opting instead for a simple white cassock.

On a balcony in St Peter’s Basilica overlooking the square, the new Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church will introduce himself to hundreds of faithful from all around the world.