How a pope is chosen

The Pope is considered the "Supreme Roman Pontiff, vicar of Christ, successor of Saint Peter in the universal government of the Catholic Church, of which he is the visible head, and spiritual father of all the faithful", according to the definition of the RAE. After the death or resignation of a Pope, this ecclesiastical office is elected through the conclave, a meeting of cardinals who must carry out a process of voting . If you want to know more about the election of the pontiff, do not miss this article about how a pope is elected.

Meeting of cardinals

For the election of a new Pope, after the death or resignation of the previous one, it is necessary to hold a meeting of cardinals from all over the world who will be isolated in the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican . This is what is known as the Conclave, and with this term we can refer to the persons in charge of choosing the Pope of Rome, as well as the place where they are isolated during the days of this election.

Conclave

This meeting and process take place in the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican, it is produced in total secrecy and under lock and key ("conclave" comes from the Latin conclāve which means "what is locked"). They meet cardinals who can not be over 80 years of age and will be held incommunicado for the duration of the conclave. They must then propose various candidates to occupy the command of the Catholic Church and initiate a process of voting until a two-thirds majority is obtained . We explain here in more detail what the conclave is.

White fumate or black fumata

While the conclave meetings last, a great expectation is generated among the society to know if the necessary consensus for the appointment of the new Pope has been reached. Since the cardinals are totally cut off from the outside, it is through the chimney that they communicate if the result of the voting has been positive or negative. After each count of ballots, these will be burned and the resulting smoke will warn if there is consensus or not: the black smoke (obtained by adding fish, a resinous substance) means that there has been no consensus and it will be the white smoke that will indicate that The Pope has been chosen.

Habemus papam!

At the moment when the necessary consensus has been reached, one of the cardinals will pronounce the words " Habemus papam! "From the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, in the Vatican.