Q. How is a Pope elected?
A. Cardinals - bishops whose primary responsibility is to elect a new pope - hold a series of meetings at the Vatican called general congregations. They discuss the needs and the challenges facing the Catholic Church globally. They also prepare for the upcoming papal election, called a conclave. In the past, the cardinals also made arrangements for the funeral and burial of the deceased pope.
A few days later, the cardinals gather in St. Peter's Basilica for a Mass invoking the guidance of the Holy Spirit in electing a new pope. Only cardinals under the age of 80 (cardinal electors) are eligible to vote in a conclave. For the conclave itself, the cardinal electors process to the Sistine Chapel and take an oath of absolute secrecy before sealing the doors.
The cardinals vote by secret ballot, walking one by one up to Michelangelo's painting of the Last Judgment, saying a prayer and dropping the twice-folded ballot in a large chalice. Four rounds of balloting are taken every day until a candidate receives two-thirds of the vote. The result of each ballot are counted aloud and recorded by three cardinals designated as recorders. If no one receives the necessary two-thirds of the vote, the ballots are burned in a stove near the chapel with a mixture of chemicals to produce black smoke.
When a cardinal receives the necessary two-thirds vote, the dean or senior-most of the College of Cardinals asks him if he accepts his election. If he accepts, he chooses a papal name and is dressed in the white papal vestments before processing out to the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica. The ballots of the final round are burned with chemicals producing white smoke to signal to the world the election of a new pope.
The senior cardinal deacon, announces from the balcony of St. Peter's "Habemus Papam" ("We have a pope") before the new pope processes out and imparts his blessing on the city of Rome and the entire world.
Pray for the Pope!
1st November 2015